£ JUL 



MATERNITY; 



A BOOK FOR EVERY 



WIFE 75ND MOTHER 



REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



By Mrs. P. B. SAUR, M. D. 



Graduate of Philadelphia Woman's College, formerly Resident Physician in 

the Alaska Street Hospital, Philadelphia ; Member Ohio State 

Medical Society, Etc., Etc. 






" KNOW WELL THYSELF." 




CHICAGO AND PHILADELPHIA: 

L. P. MILLER & COMPANY, 

1887. 






Cop5Tig-hted by 

L. P. MILLER & CO., 

18S7. 



PREFACE. 



The time has arrived when a more diffusive 
knowledge of the laws of health, will be appreci- 
ated by the women of our land. It is said, " A 
little knowledge is a dangerous thing." I contend 
that no knowledge is a greater calamity. Women 
of this age are seeking earnestly to familiarize 
themselves with all the arts and sciences, and the 
leading questions of the day, and are now filling, 
creditably, positions of trust, which require schol- 
arly attainments. 

Yet it may be said with truth, that there is no 
subject about which the masses of women are so 
ignorant, as the Anatomy and Physiological laws 
of their own being. And the result is that there 
never was a time in the history of American 
women, when there was such an alarming preva- 
lence of special diseases as at this day. 

The important object of this work is to show 
that this universal suffering is not the result of ex- 
cessive mental development, but a lack of physical 
culture, a want of balance between excitement and 
rest, especially before maturity has been reached, 
improprieties of dress, and sedentary habits of 
life. The greatest need of the age is a better un- 
derstanding of the laws of our being ; it is a point 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

upon which the future of our race depends. I be- 
lieve in the enlightenment of mothers and daugh- 
ters upon this, and all topics pertaining to the 
physical, mental and moral conditions of women, 
as the surest means of correcting the glaring evils 
which to-day embitter the lives of our sex. 

With a better knowledge of the physiological 
life of woman, and a practical application of its 
laws, a higher type of womanhood will be de- 
veloped. 

This work is designed to supply a long felt ne- 
cessity in this direction, and it is devoted to a prac- 
tical consideration of woman and her diseases — 
their nature, cause, and the rational cure of them. 

It does not supplant the necessity of profes- 
sional skill, in grave cases ; but it is designed to 
make woman intelligent as to the nature of her 
maladies and the proper means of relief. 

If this work shall create a desire on the part of 
the reader, for a better knowledge of the laws 
governing her being, coupled with a determination 
to make a practical application of them, the aim of 
the book will have been accomplished. I bespeak 
for it, then, a warm welcome in every home in our 
land. 

Prudence B. Saur, M. D. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE YOUNG WIFE. 

An ideal woman. — Health essential — Important advice — Life with- 
out health a burden — Means to promote health — Walking a glorious 
exercise — Evil effects of tight lacing — Pleasure in moderation neces- 
sary to health and happiness — A wife's work — Home the kingdom, 
and woman the king — Happy the man who has a contented wife — 
Pages - 11-16. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

How divided — General physiology — The breasts, nipple and ar- 
eola — The vagina — The uterus or womb, description — Round cords 
— Round ligaments — Broad ligaments — Anterior and posterior liga- 
ments, arteries, veins, etc. — The ovaries, the most important of the 
generative organs — What they contain — Development of the egg — 
The law of conception — Ovulation — The Fallopian tubes — Description 
— Their utility — Nourishment and development of the embryo — The 
chorion — The allantpis — The placenta — Plan of foetal circulation — 
Pages 17-30. 

CHAPTER III. 

MENSTRUATION. 

Of what does menstruation consist — A law of nature — Every living 
thing comes from an egg — Marvelous regularity of the periods — Symp- 
toms denoting appearance — Relation of menstruation to health, beauty 
and perfection — Disorders of menstruation — Suppression of the menses 

(v) 



VI CONTENTS. 

— Various forms of suppression — Symptoms — Treatment — Chlorosis — 
Treatment — Profuse menstruation — Causes — Symptoms — Treatment 
— Painful menstruation — Causes — Symptoms — Treatment — Change of 
life — Symptoms — Treatment — Pages 31-55. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PREGNANCY. 

Signs of Pregnancy — Morning sickness — Appearance of .the 
breasts — Quickening — Flatulence — Other symptoms — Sleepiness — 
Heartburn — Increased flow of saliva — Toothache — Loss of appetite 
— Likes and dislikes in eating — Clothing — Evil effects of lacing — An- 
other crying evil — Rational dress — Bathing — Air and exercise — 
Things to be avoided — Ventilation — Necessity of rest — Sleep, etc. — 
Pages 56-80. 

CHAPTER V. 

CONSTIPATION. 

Results of constipation — General description — The sudject an im- 
portant one — Evil effects of constipation — Peristaltic action — Causes 
of constipation — Injurious use of laxative medicines — Habitual neglect 
— Earth closets — Effect of Fashionable dress — Treatment — Food an 
important item — The wet compress — The enema — Abundance of 
exercise — Massage treatment — Special exercises — General remarks — 
Pages 81-100. 

CHAPTER VI. 

DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

Pregnancy should not be a source of disease — Previously acquired 
disorders responsible — Mental disorders — Diarrhoea — Muscular pains 
in the abdomen— Sleeplessness — Heartburn — Water-brash — Wind in 
the stomach and bowels — Piles —Varicose veins — Pendulous abdomen 
— Toothache — Morning sickness — Means to harden the nipples — The 
breasts — The bladder — Fainting — Cramps — The whites — Irritation 
and itching of the external parts — False labor pains — The period of 
gestation — A pregnancy table — The nurse — etc — Pages. .. .101-143. 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 

Miscarriage, a serious calamity — How prevented — Causes — Symp- 
toms — More serious symptoms — Decided symptoms — Treatment — 
Early hours indispensable — Cold baths — Gentle exercise desirable — 
Criminal abortion — Influences of Christianity — A monstrous heresy — 
Evils of excessive child-bearing — A law of Nature — Children con- 
ceived and nurtured in love — Pages 144-153. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PRE-NATAL CULTURE.* 

A common belief — An important subject to loving mothers — The 
possibilities of appropriate means — Effect of sudden mental emotions 
— The law of embryonic moulding— A teacher's observation — A reas- 
onable theory — The last shall be first — Importance of order — Ante- 
cedent preparation — The right to be well born — Some pertinent sug- 
gestions — The sacred rights of mothers — Like begets like — Some spe- 
cific directions — Hope for all — Cause and effect — Mothers should know 
themselves — The noblest use of art — Things to be avoided — The 
father's duty — The influence of inspirations — A God-like privilege — 
Pages. , 154-194. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

The pains and perils of maternity — Nature thwarted — Reasons for 
believing that parturition may be made painless — Testimony of emi- 
inent physicians — Pain in child-birth a morbid symptom — Experience 
of Elizabeth Cady Stanton — A mistaken notion — Benefits to be de- 
rived from a fruit diet — Mrs. Rowbotham's experiment-— Value of dif- 
ferent foods — Other cases — Diet, bathing and other exercise essential — 
Pages 195-213. 

CHAPTER X. 

CHILD-BIRTH. 

The first labor — Symptoms of labor — Child-birth a natural pro- 
* Adapted from Pre-Natal Culture by A. E. Newton. 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

cess — Nature needs no assistance — Duration of confinement — Success- 
ive stages of labor — Dress for the occasion — Things to be avoided — 
The use of chloroform in hard and lingering confinements — Hints to 
attendants — How to restore animation — Rest after delivery — Bandage 
after labor — Treatment of the bowels — Cleanliness necessary — Dietary 
— Water a valuable aperient — Nature's physician — Pages. ..214-248. 

CHAPTER XI. 

NURSING. 

A true mother — Care of the breasts — Milk fever or weed — Stated 
times for nursing — Clothing to be worn — Diet while nursing — Fresh 
air and exercise — Ailments, etc. — Retracted nipples — Sore nipples — 
Cracked and fissured nipples - Gathered breasts — Causes of gathered 
breasts — Laxatives while nursing — Weaning, the time and manner of 
— Treatment of the breast — Warning symptoms — Pages. . . .249-274. 

CHAPTER XII. 

INFANTS AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

A mother's duty — The bathing of infants — Cleanliness an incentive 
to health — Care of the navel — Rupture of the navel — Clothing — Some 
new ideas — Qualities required —Diet hints on nursing — How to select 
a wet nurse — Mortality of hand-fed children — Artificial human 
milk — Other artificial foods— Dentition -Painful dentition — Exercise 
— Sleep — Causes of suffocation — Chafing — Convulsions — Constipa- 
tion — Flatulence — Cholera infantum — Diarrhoea — Dysentery — Nettle 
Rash — Red-gum — The thrush — The language of a cry — Concluding- 
remarks on infancy — Pages 275-350. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Bathing — Clothing — Diet — Milk as food — Objectionable food — 
Overfeeding — Poisonous sweetmeats — The nursery — Childhood's ideal 
home — On frightening children — Night terrors— A long remembered 
kindness — Home treatment of children — Exercise — Amusements — 
Education — Advice to fathers — Sleep— Morning treatment — Second 
dentition — Disease — Water on the brain — Croup — Child crowing — In- 



CONTENTS. IX 

flammation of the lungs — Bronchitis — Diphtheria — Measles — Scarlet 
fever — Chicken-pox — Whooping-cough — The Mumps — Earache — 
Chilblains — Chapped hands — Chapped lips — Worms — Milk crust — 
Warm baths — Accidental poisoning — Important advice, etc., etc. — 
Pages 351-386 

CHAPTER XIV. 

YOUTH. 

Bathing — Management of the hair— Clothing — Corsets — Develop- 
ment of muscles— Amusements — Choice of profession Fresh air dur- 
ing sleep — Early rising — Care of the teeth — Precocious children — 
Scrofula — Round shoulders — Hemorrhage of the lungs — Consump- 
tion — Sore throat — The tobacco habit — Nose bleed — Fainting — Con- 
stipation — Hydropathy — Pimples on the face — Gumboils — Corns — 
The convalescent — Pages 387-516. 

CHAPTER XV. 

DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Inflammation of the womb — No nation exempt from its influence 
— Varieties of the disease — Anatomy of the womb — Symptoms of in- 
flammation — Ovarian tumors often the result — Sympathy of other or- 
gans — Not a cheerful picture — The causes — Debility — Exercise — 
Treatment — Clothing — Pure air — Food — Tonics Sleep — Sexual ex- 
citement — Local treatment — Value of injections — The cotton pledget — 
Chronic cases — Supports of the uterus or womb — Prolapsus or falling 
of the womb — Symptoms — Treatment — Anteversion — Retroversion — 
Flexions of the womb — Diagnosis of womb disease — Tumors — Poly- 
pus — Cancer — Leucorrhcea — Conclusion — Pages 517—554. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE YOUNG WIFE, 



A good wife is heaven's last, best gift to man — 
his angel and minister of graces innumerable — his 
gem of many virtues — his casket of jewels ; her 
voice is sweet music — her smiles, his brightest day 
— her kiss, the guardian of his innocence — her 
arms, the pale of his safety, the balm of his health, 
the balsam of his life — her industry, his surest 
wealth — her economy, his safest steward — her lips, 
his faithful counselors — her bosom, the softest pil- 
low of his cares — and her prayers, the ablest ad- 
vocate of heaven's blessedness on his head. — 
Jeremy Taylor. 

To be the ideal woman here portrayed, perfect 
health is essential. My subject then, is health, the 
care, the restoration, and the preservation of health 
— one of the most important themes that can be 
brought before a human being, one that should 
engross much of our time and attention, and 
one that cannot be secured unless properly in- 
quired into and attended to. The human frame is, 
as every one knows, constantly liable to be out of 
order ; it would be strange, indeed, if a beautiful 
and complex instrument like the human body were 
not occasional^ out of tune. 

The advice I am about to offer my reader is of 
(ii) 



12 THE YOUNG WIFE. 

the greatest importance, and demands her deepest 
attention. How many wives are there with broken 
health, with feeble constitutions, and with childless 
homes. Their number is legion. It is painful to 
contemplate that, in our country, there are far 
more unhealthy, than healthy wives. There must 
surely be numerous causes for such a state of 
things. It will in the following pages, be my ob- 
ject to point out many of the causes of so much 
ill-health among women, and to suggest remedies 
both for the prevention and for the cure of such 
cases. 

If a wife is to be healthy and strong, she must 
use the means — she must sow the seeds of health 
before she can reach a full harvest of health ; health 
will not come by merely wishing for it. The 
means are not always at first pleasant, but, like 
many other things, habit makes them so. Life 
without health is a burden, life with health is a 
joy and gladness. 

The judicious spending of the first year of mar- 
ried life is of the greatest importance in the mak- 
ing and in the strengthening of a wife's constitution. 

The first year of married life generally deter- 
mines whether, for the remainder of a woman's 
existence, she shall be healthy and strong, or shall 
be delicate and weak ; whether she shall be the 
mother of fine, healthy children or of sickly, under- 
sized offspring. 

A young married woman ought at once to com- 
mence taking regular and systematic out-door ex- 



EXERCISE TO PROMOTE HEALTH. 1 3 

ercise, which may be done without in the least in- 
terfering with her household duties. There are 
few things more conducive to health than walking 
exercise ; and one advantage of our climate is, that 
there are but few days in the year in which, at 
some period of the day, it might not be taken. 
Walking — I mean a walk, not a stroll — is a glori- 
ous exercise ; it expands the chest and throws back 
the shoulders ; it strengthens the muscles ; it pro- 
motes digestion, making a person digest almost 
any kind of food ; it tends to open the bowels, and 
is better than any aperient pill ever invented ; it 
clears the complexion, giving roses to the cheeks 
and brilliancy to the eye, and, in point of fact, is 
one of the greatest beautifiers in the world. If 
women would walk more than they do, there would 
be fewer useless, complaining wives than at pres- 
ent. Walking is worthy of commendation, and is 
indispensable to contentment, health, strength, and 
comeliness. During pregnancy walking must be 
cautiously pursued ; but still, walking in modera- 
tion is even then absolutely necessary, and tends to 
keep off many of the wretchedly depressing symp- 
toms often accompanying that state. I am quite 
sure that there is nothing more conducive to health 
than the wearing out of lots of shoe leather, and 
leather is cheaper than physic. 

Do not let me be misunderstood : I am not ad- 
vocating that a delicate woman, unaccustomed to 
exercise, should at once take violent and long-con- 
tinued exercise ; certainly not. Let a delicate lady 



14 THE YOUNG WIFE. 

learn to take exercise as a young child would learn 
to walk — by degrees ; let her creep, and then go ; 
let her gradually increase her exercise, and let her 
do nothing either rashly or unadvisedly. If a 
child attempted to run before he could walk, he 
would stumble and fall. A delicate lady requires 
just as much care in the training to take exercise 
as a child does in learning to walk, but exercise 
must be learned and must be practiced, if a lady, 
or any one else, is to be healthy and strong. 

A lady should walk early in the morning and not 
late in the evening. The dews of evening are 
dangerous, and are apt to give severe colds, fevers, 
and other diseases. Dew is more likely than rain 
to give cold. 

Does a wife desire to be strong ? Then let her 
take exercise. Does she hope to retain her bloom 
and her youthful appearance and still look charm- 
ing in the eyes of her husband ? Then let her take 
exercise. Does she wish to banish nervousness 
and low spirits ? Then let her take exercise. 
There is nothing standing still in nature ; if it 
were, creation would languish and die. There 
is a perpetual motion. And so must we be con- 
stantly employed, if we are to be healthy and 
strong. Nature will not be trifled with ; these are 
her laws — immutable and unchangeable, and we 
cannot infringe them with impunity. 

Let me strongly caution the young wife against 
the evil effects of tight lacing. The waist ought to 
be from twenty -seven to twenty-nine inches in cir- 



NATURE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH. 1 5 

cumference ; should she lace until she is only 
twenty-three or in some cases, only twenty-one 
inches, it must be done at the expense of comfort, 
of health, and happiness. If stays are worn tightly, 
they press down the lower part of the abdomen, 
which may either prevent a lady from having a 
family, or produce a miscarriage. Tight lacing is 
also a frequent cause of displacement of the womb 
Let the dress be loose, and adapted to the season. 

Pleasure to a certain degree is as necessary to 
the health of a young wife, and every one else, as 
the sun is to the earth — to warm, to cheer, and to 
invigorate it, and to bring out its verdure. Pleas- 
ure, in moderation, rejuvenates, humanizes, and 
improves the character, and expands and exercises 
the good qualities of the mind ; but, like the sun in 
its intensity, it oppresseth, drieth up, and withereth. 
Pleasures, kept within due bounds, are good, but 
in excess are utterly subversive of health and hap- 
piness. A wife who lives in a whirl of pleasure 
and excitement is always sickly and nervous, and 
utterly unfitted for her duties and responsibilities ; 
and the misfortune of it is, the more pleasure she 
takes, the more she craves. 

A wife's life is made up of little pleasures, of 
little tasks, of little cares, and little duties, but 
which, when added together, make a grand total 
of human happiness ; she is not expected to do any 
grand work ; her province lies in a contrary direc- 
tion, in gentleness, in cheerfulness, in contentment, 
in housewifery, in care and management of her 



1 6 THE YOUNG WIFE. 

- 

children, in sweetening her husband's cup of life, 
when it is, as it often is, a bitter one, in abnegation 
of self ; these are emphatically a heritage, her jew- 
els, which help to make up her crown of glory. 

The quiet retirement of her own home ought 
to be her greatest pleasure and her most precious 
privilege. Home is the kingdom of woman, and 
she should be the reigning potentate. A father, a 
mother, children, a house and its belongings, con- 
stitute a home — the most delightful place in the 
world — where affections spring up, take root and 
flourish, and where happiness loves to take up its 
abode. 

Cheerfulness, contentment, occupation, and 
healthy activity of mind cannot be too strongly rec- 
ommended. A cheerful, happy temper is one of 
the most valuable attributes a wife can have. The 
possession of such a virtue not only makes herself, 
but every one around her, happy. It gilds with 
sunshine the humblest dwelling, and often con- 
verts an indifferent husband into a good one. 
Contentment is the finest medicine in the world ; 
it not only frequently prevents disease, but, if 
disease is present, it assists in curing it. Happy 
is the man who has a contented wife ! 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



The organs of generation are divided into ex- 
ternal and internal. The external organs are in- 
cluded under the general name of vulva. "They 
consist in front of the mons Veneris, a fatty cush- 
ion covered in the adult female with hairs, and 
extending back from this on each side, two lips or 
folds of the skin — the outer ones which are parti- 
ally covered with hairs, called the labia majora, or 
large lips, and the inner ones which are covered 
by a pink colored mucous membrane, called the 
labia minora, or small lips. Near where the labia 
minora meet in front is a little fold of membrane 
called the clitoris. This is usually about one 
fourth of an inch long, but it sometimes becomes 
greatly enlarged so as to be an inch or more in 
length. The clitoris is the seat of special sensa- 
tion, and becomes somewhat enlarged and hard- 
ened when the passions are excited. About one 
inch back from the clitoris is the opening of the 
urethra, or outlet of the bladder. Immediately 
back of this is the opening of the vagina which is 
the entrance to the internal generative organs." 

The breasts are accessory to the generative 
07) 



1 8 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

organs, and by many anatomists are classed among 
them. Their development and functions are sim- 
ultaneous, and the sympathy between them is so 
marked that one can hardly be affected without the 
other. They are hemispherical in shape, glandular 
in tissue and the left one is usually slightly larger 
than the other. ''On the outer surface, and just 
below the center, is a small conical prominence, 
called the nipple, whic'h is of darker color than the 
rest of the breast, and is surrounded by a circle 
called the areola (Plate 6), having a deeper tint than 
the surrounding skin. In blondes the color of the 
areola is of a rosy hue, in brunettes it is much 
darker. This color is of importance inasmuch as 
it is affected by pregnancy, providing a reliable 
sign by which the physician may determine 
whether a woman is in a state of pregnancy or 
not." 

The internal generative organs consist of the 
vagina, the uterus, or womb, Fallopian tubes, and 
ovaries. 

The vagina (Plate 7) is the passage which leads 
from the vulva, or external opening, to the womb. 
It is from three to five inches in length and passes 
upward and backward in a somewhat curved 
direction, and, owing to this curving, it is about 
an inch longer on the posterior side than on the 
anterior. Its walls are thick, and capable of di- 
lating or contracting to a considerable extent. 
It is lined with a mucous membrane throughout, 
like the uterus, and in virgins is marked with a 



UTERUS AND LIGAMENTS. 10, 

number of folds, which gradually disappear after 
connection, and especially after delivery. The 
outlet of the vagina is kept closed by means of a 
circular, or constrictor, muscle. This muscle also 
tends to draw the walls of the vagina together, 
making them more firm, thus enabling it in a 
great measure to support the womb above. 

The uterus, or womb (Plate 8), was formerly 
thought to be the most essential of the generative 
organs, but it is now known to be but the recep- 
tacle into which the ripe egg is discharged from 
the Fallopian tubes. If conception takes place it 
remains and developes into a new being, otherwise, 
after a short stay, it passes off. 

The form of the womb is nearly that of a pear, 
the larger end being at the top. The length is 
about two inches and a half, and its breadth at the 
top about one and a half inches, while at the lower 
end it is something less than an inch. Its thickness 
is also about one inch. It is not round, but flat- 
tened, and is slightly curved, or bent, the curved 
part being toward the back bone, the lower part, 
or neck, projects into the vagina, the walls of which 
are attached to the exterior some distance above. 
The walls being very thick the cavity is necessarily 
very small, and is different in form to the exterior. 
In the upper part, the cavity is shaped like a tri- 
angle, the Fallopian tubes entering at the two 
upper angles ; in the lower part it is continued 
downward, like a tube which swells out a little 
more than half way down, and at its termination 



20 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

opens by what is called the os uteri, or mouth of 
the womb, into the vagina. The womb is kept 
in position by two round cords, or ligaments, 
attached, one on either side, to the womb. These 
are about five inches long, and are firmly attached 
by their other ends to the pubic, or front bones. 
Without these the womb would be liable to dis- 
placements, but as they act with equal force and in 
opposite directions they necessarily hold the womb 
in the center. Beside the round ligaments there 
are also the broad ligaments, which consist of two 
sheets of strong membrane, one on either side, 
which extend from the top of the womb nearly 
the whole length down, inclosing the round liga- 
ments, tubes, and ovarian ligaments in their 
substance. They grow fast to the pelvis and assist 
in maintaining the uterus, ovaries and tubes in 
their proper situation. There are also two liga- 
ments that connect the womb to the bladder in 
front, called the anterior ligaments, and two others 
which connect it with the rectum behind, called 
the posterior ligaments. All these, however, do but 
little toward actually supporting the womb, which 
is really kept in its place more by the firmness and 
density of its own substance, and that of the vagina 
below, and by tension of the muscles in the perin- 
eum than by anything else. When these parts 
become weak from debility or disease the liga- 
ments stretch, the perineal muscles relax, and the 
walls of the womb and vagina soften till all fall 
down together, causing prolapsus uteri, or falling of 
the womb. 



THE OVARIES AND OVA. 21 

The substance of the uterus is muscular, and is 
capable, in its contractions, of exerting great force. 
The increase in size which it undergoes, at the 
different periods of gestation, are most extra- 
ordinary, and its after contraction to its original 
dimensions are still more so. 

Arteries, veins and nerves (Plates 9, 10 and 11) 
are plentifully supplied to the womb, so that it is 
abundantly nutrified, and highly sensitive. Indeed 
there is no other organ in the body, except the 
ovaries, that has such extensive sympathies, or that 
is capable ol such rapid growth. The womb, 
however, is altogether dependent upon the ovaries 
both for its development and its functional ability. 
If there are no ovaries the womb will be found 
merely rudimentary, and if the ovarian action 
ceases, those of the womb cease also. 

The ovaries (Plate 12) are two small, almond- 
shaped bodies, placed one on each side of the 
womb. They are enveloped in the broad liga- 
ments and are attached by a strong cord to the 
womb, and also to the fimbriated edges of the 
Fallopian tubes. Their color is pale red, and they 
are covered over with little protuberances and 
indentations. In early life they are quite small, 
but about the age of puberty they begin to enlarge, 
and exert a powerful influence over the system 
generally. In fact, they are the most important of 
the generative organs, and the part they play in 
the grand process of reproduction is to produce 
the egg, or ova, from which all living beings origi- 



22 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

nate. Each ovary contains, embedded in its 
meshes, about twenty or thirty little vesicles, or 
cells, about the size of a small pea, called the 
Graafian follicles (Plate 13). These are filled with a 
whitish fluid, in the midst of which is seen an egg, 
or ovum, about the size of the point of a pin, or 
barely discernible with the naked eye. Usually, 
there are from twenty to thirty of these follicles 
visible at once, but there are many others, and 
which are only seen as they develop. The' actual 
number it is impossible to know, but in all proba- 
bility, there are many more than are usually 
suspected, and there is good reason for supposing 
that none are formed in adult life, but that the 
germs of all are contained in the ovaries from the 
very first formation of these organs. Neither the 
follicles nor the included eggs are all equally 
matured when we see them, but some are more 
perfect than the others, and one usually much more 
so than all the rest. In fact, they ripen, or develop, 
in succession, one after another, commencing at 
the age of puberty, and continuing to do so until 
the change of life, when all have been developed. 
This development of the egg takes place independ- 
ently of sexual excitement or connection, and occurs 
each twenty-eight days in all healthy women, both 
married and single, after the age of puberty. 

From this it will be seen that, in all normal cases, 
conception can take place only at the time, or soon 
after the expulsion of the mature ova from the 
ovaries, or, in other words, if connection does not 



CONCEPTION — FALLOPIAN TUBES. 23 

occur until after the ova has left the body, there 
can be no impregnation until the return of another 
period. The manner in which the egg is expelled 
is very curious, and when understood, explains 
many of the attendant phenomena. If the ovary is 
examined about three weeks before one of the peri- 
ods, none of the Graafian follicles or their contained 
ova, appear very different from the others, but about 
a week later one of them begins to enlarge and con- 
tinues to increase in size, at the same time coming 
nearer the surface of the ovary. Finally, the follicle 
as well as the surrounding membrane of the ovary 
bursts and the ova escapes through the opening. 
This is called ovulation. As there are two of the 
ovaries it is probable that they mature ova alter- 
nately, one, one month, and the other the next, 
though in case one ovary is disabled or destroyed, 
the other will act regularly and perform the func- 
tions of both. 

The Fallopian Tubes (Plate 1 2). — These are two 
minute tubes, one on each side, extending outward 
from the upper part of the cavity of the womb. 
Each tube is about four inches in length, its canal 
is exceedingly minute, and at the junction with the 
uterus will barely admit a fine bristle ; it continues 
narrow along the inner half of the tube, then widens 
into a trumpet-shaped extremity, the margins of 
which are surrounded by a series of fringe-like 
processes, termed fimbria?. One of these processes 
is connected with the outer end of the ovary. As 
the Graafian follicle bursts, this fimbriated or hand- 



24 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

like extremity of the Fallopian tube, guided by 
some unexplainable impulse, reaches over and 
grasps the ovary, thus securing the liberated egg 
and conveying it to the opening of the tube, which 
by contracting behind it and by successive con- 
tractions forces it into the cavity of the womb, 
where, as before stated, it is either impregnated 
and develops into a foetus or passes into the vagina 
and thus out of the body. 

Conception, as before stated, usually takes place 
soon after the ova leaves the ovary. The ova re- 
quires about two days to pass through the Fallo- 
pian tube, thus reaching the womb about the time 
that the menstrual flow ceases. 

The period in which the ova remains in the womb 
varies in different individuals ; in some it is retained 
for several days (usually about eight), while in 
others it passes off almost immediately. Those 
women who are close observers can often tell to a 
certainty when this occurs, as it is usually attended 
with nervousness and as a minute substance like 
the white of an egg with a fleck of blood in it may 
often be seen upon the clothing. Impregnation 
takes place by the union of the male sperm with 
the female ova. Usually this takes place in the 
womb but there is no reason why the male germ, 
once within the cavity of the uterus, should not 
pass into the Fallopian tubes and there meet the 
unimpregnated ova. Usually but one ova is dis- 
charged from the ovaries at a time, but occasion- 
ally both ovaries will discharge an egg into the 



NOURISHMENT OF THE EMBRYO. 2s 

womb, or one follicle may contain two eggs. In 
either case both may be impregnated, and thus 
produce twins. In those rare cases where three 
or even four are produced at one birth, it is prob- 
able that, for some unexplainable reason, a like 
number of eggs have been produced by the 
ovaries. 

Nourishment and development of the embryo and 
fcetus. — The ovum in passing through the Fallopian 
tube increases in size from one one-hundred and 
twenty-fifth of an inch to one-fiftieth or one twenty- 
fifth of an inch by absorption or yolk nutrition. 
As the egg is small it can furnish nutriment for but 
a short time. About six days after conception 
takes place, a membrane forms around the ovum 
called the chorion. This serves to anchor the ovum 
to the walls of the uterus. From the chorion mi- 
nute hollow tubes ramify in all directions (Plate 15), 
and coming in contact with the walls of the uterus 
draw nourishment from the mucous membranes 
which line that organ. This nourishment is trans- 
mitted to the embryo by means of an organ con- 
necting it with the chorion, and called the allantois. 
The allantois in time develops into the umbilica/ 
cord, the villi of the chorion diminish, and finally 
are obliterated, save at the junction of the allantois 
with the chorion, where they rapidly enlarge, and 
this portion at the end of the second month de- 
velops into the placenta, from which nutriment is 
furnished to the fcetus. 

The placenta (Plates 22 and 23) is a soft, spongy 



26 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

mass, nearly circular in form, measuring about 
seven and one-half inches in diameter and one inch 
in thickness at the insertion of the umbilical cord. 
Its weight is about one pound. The fcetal surface 
is smooth, while the uterine surface has a rough- 
ened, spongy feel. The uterine surface of the pla- 
centa coheres with the uterus and is connected by 
the umbilical cord with the foetus. During intra- 
uterine life the placenta performs offices similar to 
those of the lungs and intestines after birth. It 
absorbs nourishment, renovates the blood, and dis- 
charges by exhalation the excrementitious matters 
originating in the process of fcetal nutrition. The 
umbilical cord consists of a sheath inclosing a gel- 
atinous mass surrounding two umbilical arteries 
and one vein. Through the agencies of the umbil- 
ical cord, as before stated, the foetus is nourished 
and the excesses discharged. 

The growth of the embryo after fecundation is 
very rapid. On the tenth day it has the appear- 
ance of a semi-transparent, greyish flake. On the 
twelfth day it is nearly the size of a pea, filled with 
fluid, in the middle of which is an opaque spot, 
presenting the first appearance of an embryo, which 
may be clearly seen as an oblong or curved body 
and is plainly visible to the naked eye on the four- 
teenth day. The twenty-first day the embryo re- 
sembles an ant or a lettuce seed ; its length is from 
four to five lines and its weight from three to four 
grains. Many of its parts now begin to show 
themselves, especially the cartilaginous beginnings 
of the spinal column, the heart, etc. 



GROWTH OF THE EMBRYO. 2? 

The thirtieth day the embryo is as large as a 
horse fly, and resembles a worm bent together. 
There are yet no limbs, and the head is larger than 
the body. When stretched out it is nearly half an 
inch long. Toward the fifth week the head in- 
creases greatly in proportion to the remainder of 
the body, and the rudimentary eyes are indicated 
by two black spots turned toward the sides, and 
the heart exhibits its external form, bearing a close 
resemblance to that in the adult. 

In the seventh week bone begins to form in the 
lower jaw and clavicle. Narrow streaks on each 
side of the vertebral column show the beginning of 
the ribs. The heart is perfecting its form, the 
brain enlarged and the eyes and ears growing more 
perfect and the limbs sprouting from the body. 
The lungs are mere sacs, about one line in length 
and the trachea is a delicate thread, but the liver 
is very large. The arms are still imperforate. In 
the seventh week are formed the renal capsules and 
kidneys. At two months the forearm and hand can 
be distinguished, but not the arm ; the hand is 
larger than the forearm, but it is not supplied with 
fingers. The distinction of sex is yet difficult. 
The eyes are prominent, but the lids do not cover 
the eyeballs. Xhe nose forms an obtuse eminence. 
The nostrils are rounded and separated. The 
mouth is gaping, and the epidermis can be distin- 
guished from the true skin. The embryo is from 
one and a half to two inches long and weighs from 
three to five drams, the head forming more than 
one third of the whole. 



28 ORGANS OF GENERATION. 

At the end of three months the eyelids are dis- 
tinct but shut ; the lips are drawn together ; the 
forehead and nose are clearly traceable, and the 
organs of generation prominent. The heart beats 
with force, and larger vessels carry red blood ; the 
fingers and toes are well defined, and muscles begin 
to be developed. 

At the fourth month the embryo takes the name 
oifcetus. The body is six to eight inches in length 
and weighs from seven to eight ounces. The skin 
has a rosy color, and the muscles now produce a 
sensible motion. A foetus born at this time might 
live several hours. 

At five months the length of the body is from 
eight to ten inches, and its weight is from eight to 
eleven ounces. 

At six months the length is twelve and a half 
inches ; weight one pound. The hair appears upon 
the head, the eyes closed, the eyelids somewhat 
thicker, and their margins as well as the eyebrows 
are studded with very delicate hairs. 

At seven months, every part has increased in vol- 
ume and perfection ; the bony system is rrearly com- 
plete ; length twelve to fourteen inches, weight two 
and a half to three pounds. If born at this period 
the foetus is able to breathe, cry and nurse, and may 
live if properly cared for. 

At eight months, the fcetus seems to grow rather 
in thickness than in length ; it is only sixteen to 
eighteen inches long and yet weighs from four to 
five pounds. The skin is very red, and covered 



PLAN OF FCETAL CIRCULATION. 29 

with down and a considerable quantity of sebaceous 
matter. The lower jaw, which at first was very 
short, is now as long as the upper one. 

Finally, at term, the foetus is about nineteen to 
twenty-three inches long, and weighs from six to 
nine pounds. The red blood circulates in the 
capillaries, and the skin performs the functions of 
perspiration ; the nails are fully developed. 

The Plan of Festal Circulation (Plate 24). — As the 
lungs of the foetus are dormant the foetal circulation 
is a very interesting phenomenon. The blood, 
passing from the right ventricle into the pulmonary 
artery, instead of entering the lungs, passes, almost 
entirely, through the ductus arteriosus into the de- 
scending aorta. From here the larger part is con- 
veyed through the umbilical arteries to the placenta, 
where the interchanges with the maternal blood 
take place. After being thus renovated and re- 
charged with oxygen, it collects within the 
umbilical vein and passes back to the foetal liver. 
Here a part of it circulates through this organ, 
while the rest passes direct through the ductus 
venosus into the inferior vena cava, where it again 
meets the blood brought from the liver by the 
hepatic vein, and the two mixing with that return- 
ing from the lower extremities and viscera of the 
abdomen enter the right auricle, and by the 
Eustachian valve pass into the left auricle, where 
it becomes mixed with a small quantity of blood 
returning from the lungs by the pulmonary veins. 
From the left auricle it passes into the left ven- 



3o 



ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



tricle, from here into the aorta, from whence it is 
distributed almost entirely to the upper extremities. 
Descending by the superior vena cava it enters the 
right auricle, and from here into the right ven- 
tricle, and thus completes the circuit. 




CHAPTER III. 



MENSTRUATION. 



Before entering- upon the description and treat- 
ment of the disorders of menstruation, it is but 
proper that I should endeavor to make clear, ist, 
of what does menstruation consist; 2d, of the 
causes which produce it ; 3d, of what are its uses 
in the system of the female. There is probably no 
function of woman which is so little understood by 
woman herself, as this. She can tell you that she 
has had this discharge about every twenty-eight 
days, how long it lasts, and predict exactly when 
it will again appear ; but why it appears most 
women are unable to state. This cannot be won- 
dered at when we consider the short time which 
has elapsed since this function was clearly under- 
stood even by medical men. From the earliest 
ages to the present time there have been number- 
less theories advanced, but each, one after the 
other, has fallen to the ground by its own dead 
weight, until at last the undoubted correct theory 
has been reached. 

In accordance with the universal law of repro- 
duction every living thing comes from an egg or 
germ. This can be shown as well in the vegetable 

(30 



32 MENSTRUATION. 

as the animal kingdom. The sturdy oak from the 
acorn, the ear of corn from the grain planted by the 
farmer, the robin, and the elephant all springing 
from germs, go to prove the truthfulness of this 
law. Every seed, every egg contains a germ, 
which, when brought under proper influences, will 
produce of its own kind. 

Thus far all is plain enough, but where do these 
germs originate ? It has been ascertained that each 
animal, as well as each plant, is provided with an 
organ for the production and throwing off of these 
cells or germs. In woman this organ is the 
ovary, the sole physiological function or duty ol 
which is to mature and deposit its ova or eggs 
ev^ery twenty-eighth day, from the age of fifteen to 
that of forty-five, or for about thirty years. This 
function is suspended only during pregnancy and 
nursing, but sometimes not even then. There are 
numerous cases on record where the woman has 
had her courses regularly during the time she was 
pregnant, and there are many with whom lactation 
does not at all interfere. During the maturation 
or ripening, and discharging of the ovum into the 
canal or tube which conveys it into the womb, the 
generative organs become very much congested, 
looking almost as if inflamed. This congestion at 
last reaches such a height, that it overflows as it 
were, and produces a discharge of bloody fluid 
from the genitalia or birthplace. As soon as the 
flow commences the heat and acl ing in the region 
of the ovaries, and the weight and dragging sensa- 



CAUSE OF MENSTRUATION. 33 

tion diminish and gradually disappear. Thus it 
will be seen that menstruation consists merely in 
the ripening and discharge of an ovum or egg, 
which, when not impregnated, is washed away by 
the menstrual fluid or blood, poured out from the 
vessels on the inner surface of the womb. The 
marvelous regularity of menstruation has always 
excited great wonder, but why should it ? When 
we look around, we see that both animal and vege- 
table life have stated and regular times at which 
germ production takes place. Fruits and vege- 
tables ripen, and animals produce their young at 
certain periods. It is a law of nature, and why 
should not woman obey it, in her monthly term. 
Now since it has been shown that menstruation 
consists in the ripening, and regular deposit of an 
egg — the flow being but the outward visible sign 
of such an act — it is possible that a woman may 
menstruate regularly without having any show. 
To prove this, there are many cases on record 
where a woman has married, and become pregnant 
without having had the least show, which would 
be impossible if she did not menstruate. Indeed 
there are certain physicians who claim that all san 
guinous flow is abnormal, and certainly menstrua- 
tion should be devoid of all pain. A woman in 
perfect health should feel no necessity for deviat- 
ing from the ordinary duties or occupations and no 
special care need be taken at this time. Under ex- 
isting conditions however, such cases are extremely 
rare and by far the exception rather than the rule. 



34 MENSTRUATION. 

As has been before remarked, menstruation com- 
mences at about the age of fourteen or fifteen in 
this country. In warmer climates it appears ear- 
lier, and in colder ones, later. Menstruation, 
menses, courses, catamenia, monthly periods, and 
" being unwell," are some of the terms by which 
this function is designated. Those who are 
brought up and live luxuriously, and whose moral 
and physical training has been such as to make 
their nervous systems more susceptible, have their 
courses at a much earlier period than those who 
have been accustomed to coarse food and laborious 
employment. The appearance of the menses be- 
fore the fourteenth year is regarded as unfortunate, 
indicating a premature development of the organs ; 
while their postponement until after the sixteenth 
year, is generally an evidence of weakness, or of 
some disorder of the generative apparatus. If, 
however, the person has good health, and all her 
other functions are regular ; if her spirits are not 
clouded, nor her mind dull and weak, it should not 
be considered necessary to interfere to bring them 
on, for irreparable injury may be done. The first 
appearance of the menses is generally preceded by 
the following symptoms: Headache, heaviness, 
languor, pains in the back, loins, and down the 
thighs, and an indisposition to exertion. There is a 
peculiar dark tint of the countenance, particularly 
under the eyes, and occasionally uneasiness and a 
sense of constriction in the throat. The perspira- 
tion has often a faint or sickly odor, and the smell 



SYMPTOMS OF MENSTRUATION. 35 

of the breath is peculiar. The breasts are enlarged 
and tender. The appetite is fastidious and capri- 
cious, and digestion is impaired. These symptoms 
continue one, two or three days, and subside as the 
menses appear. The menses continue three, five 
or seven days, according to the peculiar constitu- 
tion of the woman. The quantity discharged var- 
ies in different individuals. Some are obliged to 
make but one change during the period, but they 
generally average from ten to fifteen. At about 
the age of forty-five the final cessation of menstrua- 
tion takes place, and this period often excites 
much fear. Sometimes the symptoms are mis- 
taken for those of pregnancy — such as sickness 
at the stomach, capricious appetite, swelling and 
pam in the breasts. The change is generally grad- 
ual. The discharge may return every two or three 
weeks, then cease for two or more months, return 
again for several months as regular as ever, and 
finally disappear altogether. It is during the men- 
strual period that the system, especially of young 
persons, is more susceptible to' both mental and 
physical influences. The emotions of joy, grief, 
love and sympathy are more easily excited than at 
other times. Women are liable to be very irri- 
table and exacting. For this reason they should be 
treated with more than usual indulgence and sym- 
pathy. Husbands should especially at such times 
be tender and charitable toward their wives. 
Upon woman, the weaker vessel, has been placed 
the chief burden of reproduction with all its care, 



36 MENSTRUATION. 

pain and sorrow. It therefore little becomes the 
man who is relieved from this load to be cold and 
exacting toward the one, who, in the discharge of 
her duty to him and the race, endures with loving 
patience a multitude of ills that he knows not of. 
Very much depends upon the regular and 
healthy action of the discharge, for to it woman 
owes her beauty and perfection. Great care should 
therefore be used to guard against any influences 
that may tend to derange the menses. A sudden 
suppression is always dangerous, and among the 
causes which may produce it may be mentioned — 
sudden frights, fits of anger, great anxiety, and pow- 
erful mental emotions. Excessive exertions of 
every kind, long walks or rides, especially over 
rough roads, dancing, frequent running up and 
down stairs, have a tendency not only to increase 
discharge, but also to produce falling of the womb. 
Patent medicines and nostrums which are recom- 
mended for female complaints, purgatives, emetics, 
and liquors, may either increase or arrest the dis- 
charge. Cold baths, foot baths, wetting the feet 
by the wearing of thin shoes, are also very injuri- 
ous during this period. A young lady anxious to 
attend a party or ball while she is unwell, will take 
a hip bath to arrest the discharge, but what a train 
of horrors follows such an insane act, and still 
there are many foolish enough to do this. During 
the menstrual period no treatment is necessary, 
unless some of the various derangements of men- 
struation afflict the female, and the management of 



DISORDERS OF MENSTRUATION. 37 

these will be found under their proper heads in the 
pages following. 

The disorders incident to menstruation are: 
Amenorrhea, Menorrhagia and Dysmenorrhcea. 

Amenorrhea. — Under this head may be included 
delayed menstruation, suppressed menstruation 
and chlorosis, or green sickness. 

When the menses do not appear at the time when 
they may naturally be expected, we call it delayed 
or obstructed menstruation. It is, however, of 
great importance to know whether a girl is suffi- 
ciently developed to make it necessary for the 
menses to appear, although she may have reached 
the proper age. As long as the girl has not in- 
creased physically, if she has not become wider 
across the hips, if her breasts have not become 
enlarged, and if she experience none of the changes 
incident to this period, an effort to force nature is 
positively injurious. In this case a general treat- 
ment will be called for. The girl should be taken 
from school, from all debilitating influences, such 
as bad air and poor diet ; from the exciting and 
exhausting scenes of city life, and sent to the 
country, to the mountains, or to the seashore, to 
breathe pure air, rich in oxygen ; take daily exer- 
cise, and have sunshine and nourishing food. A 
season of this kind has brought many an enfeebled 
girl to a state of health and vigor which would 
before have seemed impossible. If, however, she 
is fully developed, and yet suffers from time to 
time from congestions of the head, breast, or ab- 



38 MENSTRUATION. 

domen, it will be necessary to interfere. The 
following are the symptoms which will generally be 
found present in these cases : Headache, weight, 
fullness, and throbbing in the center of the cranium, 
and in the back of the head ; pains in the back and 
loins; cold feet and hands, becoming sometimes 
very hot ; skin harsh and dry ; slow pulse and not 
unfrequently attended with epilepsy. 

Treatment. — It is well for the patient, a few 
days before the period, to take a warm hip or foot 
bath twice a day, and at night when retiring to 
apply cloths wet in warm water to the lower part 
of the abdomen. The bowels should be kept 
open, and if there is pain or fullness of the head 
during the discharge or before it, use the following : 

Elixir Bromide Potas. . . .3 ounces. 

Tincture Belladon. l / 2 dram. 

Spirits Nitre Dulc. . . .1 ounce. 

Dose, a teaspoonful every two hours until relieved of pain. 

Between the periods, if the system is weak, the 
following may be taken : 

Precip. Carbonate of Iron, . . 5 drams. 

Extract Conium, . 2 " 

Balsam Peru, . . . .1 dram. 

Alcohol, .... 4 ounces. 

Oil Wintergreen, . . . .20 drops. 

Simple Syrup, ... 8 ounces. 

Dose, two teaspoonfuls three times a day. Shake the mixture 
before using. 

Or, 

Syrup of Orange Peel, . . .1 ounce. 

Rose Water, 7 ounces. 

Muriated Tincture of Iron., . . 1 ounce. 



SUPPRESSION OF THE MENSES. 39 

Mix. Dose, one teaspoonful in half a glass of water three times a 
day. 

Suppression of the Menses. — By suppression is 
meant a disappearance of the menses, after they 
have become established, and may be either acute 
or chronic. Amenorrhcea is not necessarily a 
grave malady unless complicated with great con- 
stitutional disturbance, or dependent on some re- 
mote disease ; isolated, and recent, it may prove 
but a delay. 

Among the causes of suppression may be men- 
tioned the following : Sudden exposure to cold 
and humid air when the body is overheated, cold 
baths or ice cold drinks, loss of blood, a wound, a 
blow, a fall, a burn, an excessive pain, a strong odor, 
a great mental shock, powerful drugs, an irritated 
stomach, poor nourishment, the use of acid bever- 
ages, a sedentary life, too much sleep, overwork, 
late hours, the use of articles of a stimulating 
nature ; moral affections, such as sadness, grief, 
disappointment, etc.; the use of astringent medi- 
cines, and the suppression of the calls of nature. It 
may also be caused by an imperforated hymen, in 
which case a surgical operation will be necessary. 
Symptoms. — The following are the symptoms 
generally found in amenorrhcea, existing with a 
fully developed body and sexual organs : Head- 
ache; fever, hot skin, quick pulse, thirst ; cold hands 
and feet ; weight, fullness and throbbing in the 
center and back part of the head ; pains in back 
and loins. 



40 MENSTRUATION. 

The last vertebra may be so sore as to make it 
impossible to retain a sitting posture. Not unfre- 
quently the pains of the abdomen are short and 
shooting, attended by swelling and tightness ; the 
breasts, also sympathetically affected, become 
tumified and painful, and yield a white fluid, often 
mistaken for milk. When the suppression is 
chronic, the whole system responds to the unnat- 
ural condition, the appetite is lost, or replaced by 
a desire to eat strange things ; the irritable 
stomach rejects food, or is troubled by nausea ; the 
heart, oppressed, is subject to palpitations ; the 
head is full and heavy, and sometimes excruciatingly 
painful ; the ears ring with strange sounds ; the 
intestines in their turn are irritated, producing 
diarrhoea or dysentery ; the bladder, the next 
neighbor to the womb, shares in the general de- 
rangement, causing frequent and difficult urinations. 
This condition finally induces general lassitude, 
sadness or malaise. The face becomes pale and 
puffed, the flesh flabby, the movements languid ; 
the mind yields easily to moral influences, and 
becomes morose or melancholy. 

Ge?ieral Treatment. — When the suppression is 
caused by some disease in the system, that dis- 
ease must be cured before the menses will return. 
For sudden suppression, use the warm sitting bath 
or foot bath. Apply cloths wet in warm water to 
the lower part of the abdomen, and drink freely 
of warm water. If the suppression is chronic, and 
the patient is delicate, in the interval between the 



SUPPRESSION OF THE MENSES— TREATMENT. 41 

menses use the shower, or the full bath of cold or 
tepid water, rubbing the body briskly with a 
coarse towel, especially around the abdomen, loins 
and genital organs. 

It should be remembered that the tendency of 
menstruation is to reappear, and that in due time 
nature makes the effort to re-establish it ; it is then 
that the means to assist it should be employed. 

Copious injections of warm water or a solution 
of warm water and salt, or soap and water may be 
used several times a day. Injections of ammonia 
are also often beneficial, adding about ten drops of 
aqua ammonia to one pint of warm water or milk. 
Another most efficient remedy is electricity. In 
many cases of suppressed menstruation the simple 
external application of the current will prove suf- 
ficient. In cases where there is a deficient develop- 
ment of the womb the applications should be made 
direct to the uterus by instruments made specially 
for this purpose. 

As soon as the discharge has ceased, a warm 
hip bath will generally bring it on. If there is 
much inflammation of the uterus give the follow- 
ing: 

Tincture Aconite Leaves, . . 2 drams. 

Sweet Spirits of Nitre, . . 1 ounce. 

Simple Syrup, . . . .3 ounces. 

Dose, one teaspoonful every two or three hours. 

If the discharge cannot be brought on, wait un- 
til the next period. A few days before the term, 
the bowels should be freely opened, and kept open 



42 MENSTRUATION. 

until the period for the discharge has arrived. The 
pill of Aloes and Iron of the United States Dis- 
pensatory is one of the best that can be given. 
Give from one to three pills daily. If there is no 
evident reason for the discharge not appearing, 
such as pregnancy, or inflammation of the neck of 
the womb, and the woman is suffering from the 
suppression, use the following : 



Caulophyllian, 


i dram. 


Extract Aconite, 


8 grains. 


Aloes, .... 


. IO 


Sulphate of Iron, 


10 " 


Make into forty pills. Dose, two or three 


pills, taken night and 


morning. 




Or this : 




Aloes. , , 


. i dram. 


Myrrh, .... 


i 


Sulphate of Iron, . 


. i 


Extract Black Hellebore, 


i 


Oil Savine, 


. I " 


Make into thirty pills. Dose, one pill from three to six times a 


day. 





The remedies should always be taken a few days 
before the period arrives for the menses. If chron- 
ic suppression is the result of any acute disease, 
the health must first be re-established ; otherwise, 
it would be wrong to force the menses. When 
this has been done, immediately before the return 
of the period, a warm hip bath should be taken 
every night for six nights, and one of the following 
pills taken three times a day : 



CHLOROSIS — CAUSES. 43 

Fresh Powdered Ergot of Rye, . . 50 grains. 

Barbadoes Aloes, . ' . 12 ■' 

Essential Oil of Juniper, . . .12 drops. 

Make into twelve pills, with syrup or mucilage, washing down 
each pill with a cupful of pennyroyal tea. 

Chlorosis, or Green Sickness. — This disease gener- 
ally occurs in young unmarried women who are 
weak and delicate. It manifests itself about the 
age of puberty, and is accompanied by feeble 
appetite and digestion. There is no menstrual 
discharge, or else it is very slight. 

Causes. — Such as derange the vital functions, as 
innutritious food, residence in damp and ill-venti- 
lated apartments. It may be hereditary, all the 
females of the family being liable to the same 
disease. Those who drink largely of tea, coffee, 
diluted acids, bad wines, and indulge in tight lacing, 
are predisposed to this disease. Among the excit- 
ing causes may be mentioned disturbing emo- 
tions, unrequited love, home-sickness, depression 
of spirits, etc. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms characterizing this 
disease do not manifest themselves all at once, but 
gradually, insidiously, and almost insensibly come 
upon the patient. She usually first complains of 
general lassitude, and an aversion to physical or 
mental labor of any kind. There is a peculiar 
color of the skin, not excessively white, but a pale- 
ness, mixed with yellow and greenish tinges. The 
lips at times are almost white, the eyelids livid and 
swollen. The skin feels cold to the touch. The 



44 MENSTRUATION. 

gums become pale, and the tongue is generally 
coated white, and there is a pasty taste in the 
mouth in the morning. The breath is offensive. 
The patient appears weak, and tires very soon after 
slight exertion. She breathes hurriedly, not from 
any disease of the lungs, but because she has not 
sufficient strength to expand the chest to its full 
capacity. The sleep is disturbed and unrefreshing. 
The bowels are constipated, and sometimes there 
is nausea and vomiting. The pulse is small and 
frequent. She is sad, subject to fits of weeping, 
and prefers to be alone. The appetite is dimin- 
ished, and dyspeptic symptoms, as heartburn, sour 
stomach, pain in the stomach with nausea, show 
themselves. She craves indigestible substances, as 
slate pencils, chalk, charcoal, etc. Excessive con- 
stipation is followed by diarrhoea of badly digested 
substances. As the affection proceeds, the lower 
extremities become swollen, hectic cough sets in, 
sometimes attended with spitting of clots of blood. 
The abdomen becomes tense and swollen, and so 
much so sometimes, that the patient may be ac- 
cused of being pregnant. The menses, if they have 
appeared, gradually become scanty, and are at- 
tended with great pain ; they continue but a short 
time, are pale and watery, and finally cease alto- 
gether. There is sometimes severe pain through 
the left breast, or the chest. In some cases nerv- 
ous symptoms, as hysterical fits, spasms, etc., man- 
ifest themselves. Chlorosis may be mistaken for 
disease of the heart, or consumption. I have given 



CHLOROSIS — TREATMENT. 45 

here a full description of the disease, so that it may 
be recognized from the start. All of the above 
symptoms are not present in every case, but you 
will frequently find a majority of them. 

Treatment. — If we take into consideration the 
fact that the cause of the disease is impoverish- 
ment of the blood, the treatment will not be diffi- 
cult. Exercise freely in the open air ; protect the 
body from chilliness by warm clothing, and plenty 
of it. The patient should sleep on a mattress, in a 
well ventilated room. The diet should be nour- 
ishing, without being stimulating. It is important 
that the habits should be regular, and the mind 
kept cheerful by society and innocent amusements. 
Before the medical treatment is commenced, the 
exciting causes of the disease must be removed. 
A complete change must be made in the existence 
of the patient. If she is confined closely at school 
she must be removed ; if she is inclined to confine 
herself to the house, send her to the country. 
Picture to her the danger she is in, by the contin- 
uance of such a life ; give her plenty of outdoor 
exercise. The mental and moral causes are the 
most difficult to remove, but a change of scenery 
and new friends will do much toward it. For those 
who are shut up in factories, or who work all day 
in a stooping position, a change of employment 
must be made. A bath of tepid water in the morn- 
ing followed by a brisk rubbing will be beneficial. 
Also the frequent use of the sitting bath, and the 
sponge bath in the evening. Active exercise should 



46 MENSTRUATION. 

precede and follow all baths. During menstrua- 
tion all applications of water should be omitted. 

The following recipes are recommended by Dr. 
Pancoast, of Philadelphia. They are to be taken 
on alternate days ; that is, take No. I on one day, 
No. 2 the next day, and so on : 

No. i. — Precip. Carbonate of Iron, . . 5 drams. 

Extract of Conium, . . . 2 " 

Balsam Peru, . . . .1 dram. 

Oil Cinnamon, .... 20 drops. 

Simple Syrup, . . . . .8 ounces. 

Pulverized Gum Arabic ... 2 drams. 
Mix. Dose, two teaspoonfuls three times a day, every other day 
after meals. Shake before using. 

No. 2. — Tincture of Nux Vomica, . . .1 dram. 

Syrup Iodide of Iron, ... 1 ounce. 

Simple Syrup, . . . . -4 ounces. 
Mix. Dose, one teaspoonful three times a day, every other day, in 
water, after meals. 

Profuse Menstruation — Menorrhagia. — By Men- 
orrhagia we understand an immoderate flow of 
the menses. There is no fixed amount of blood 
which is lost at the menstrual period, but it varies 
in different women. It will average, however, 
from four to eight ounces. The quantity dis- 
charged may be estimated by the number of nap- 
kins used. Each napkin will contain about half an 
ounce, or one tablespoonful, so that eight napkins 
would contain four ounces ; twenty, ten ounces, 
etc. 

Causes. — Some women are predisposed to uter- 
ine hemorrhages, from a relaxed, or flabby state of 
the texture of the uterus. Frequent child-bearing, 



PROFUSE MENSTRUATION — CAUSES. 47 

abortion, high living, too prolonged and frequent 
nursing, may induce flooding. Among the exciting 
causes we may mention over-exertion, dancing, 
falls, lifting heavy weights, cold, and mental 
excitements. 

An inordinate flow occurs generally in women 
of sanguine temperament, whose heart's im- 
pulse is strong, and whose circulation is free ; 
again where the passions are strong and exposed 
to over-excitation, reflex action might determine 
blood to the generative organs and induce con- 
gestions that nature relieves by profuse menstrua- 
tion. The disease is also common among women 
of nervous, irritable temper ; in those who are cor- 
pulent and of indolent habits, and those who live 
in hot climates or occupy rooms having a high 
temperature. It is also an hereditary predisposi- 
tion, and, come from what cause it may, it is gener- 
ally aggravated during the summer season. 

Symptoms.— Exhaustion of the bodily powers ; 
weakness and pain in the back, extending to the 
hips, and across the loins ; sallow and sunken feat- 
ures ; headache, with throbbing of the temples ; 
pain in the left side, stomach and bowels ; some- 
times diarrhoea, with great nervous debility. 

Treatment. — The patient must lie down on a 
hard bed, and abstain from all stimulating food and 
drinks. The room should be cool, and she should 
be lightly covered with bedclothes. Soak the feet 
in warm water, and if the flowing is excessive, ap- 
ply cloths, wrung out. in vinegar and water, to the 



48 MENSTRUATION. 

lower bowels. The hips must be elevated higher 
than the head. 

Menorrhagia, or flooding, proceeding from any 
cause, should be treated promptly, as serious con- 
sequences may follow its continuance. In this, as 
in Dysmenorrhcea, we recommend with conhdence 
doses of from one to two teaspoonfuls of Hayden's 
Viburnum Compound in a little hot water, repeat- 
ed as often as the urgency of the case demands. 
The following will be found very successful : 

Oil Cinnamon, . . . .2 drams. 

Oil Erigeron, . . . . 2 " 

Pulverized Gum Arabic, . . 1 " 

Water, , . . . 4 ounces. 

Dose, one or two teaspoonfuls every one, two or three hours, in 
sweetened water. 

During the intervals of the period, the system 
must be toned up with some preparation of iron. 
One of the best is as follows : 



Precipitated Carbonate of Iron, . 
Extract Conium, 


. 5 drams. 
2 •' 


Balsam Peru, 


. 1 " 


Oil Cinnamon, 
Simple Syrup, 
Pulverized Gum Arabic, 


20 drops. 
8 ounces. 
2 drams. 



Another effectual prescription is the following, 
recommended by Prof. Meigs of Philadelphia : 

Powdered Alum, . . 5 to 20 grains. 

Grated Nutmeg, . . . 2 " 

Make into a powder, and give in syrup (made of white sugar boiled 
down) every hour. 



PAINFUL MENSTRUATION. 49 

Painful Menstruation — Dysmenorrhea. — The 
word dysmenorrhcea means a difficult monthly 
flow, and is always preceded by severe pains in the 
back and lower part of the abdomen. 

The suffering connected with this disorder is of 
the most intense and acute character, yet thou- 
sands of women periodically bear this torture, 
smiling during the short interval of ease that comes 
between the spasms that seem to rend them. 
There is a pain enduring capacity in woman that 
certainly man knows not of ; in the throes of labor 
she smiles in anticipation of gladness, in the rack- 
ing pains of dysmenorrhcea she only prays for the 
hour of relief. It is that struggle between the 
moral and physical from which woman comes 
out a heroine. 

Causes. — Taking cold during the period ; fright, 
violent mental emotions ; obstinate constipation ; 
sedentary occupations ; smallness of the mouth 
and neck of the womb. Women subject to this 
trouble are generally relieved by marriage. 

Symptoms. — Severe bearing down pains in the 
region of the uterus, like labor pains ; restless- 
ness, coldness, flashes of heat, with headache ; 
aching in the small of the back, lower part of ab- 
domen, and thighs ; the discharge is scanty, and 
contains shreds of fiber and clotted blood. 

Treatment. — Women of a sanguinous tempera- 
ment should make frequent use of the cold bath, 
taking the precaution to follow it quickly by brisk, 
hard and dry rubbing, but nervous and lym- 



50 MENSTRUATION. 

phatic temperaments will find the warm bath more 
conducive to their comfort. During the three 
or four days just preceding the menses the body 
should be kept at rest in a reclined position, and 
every night a hot hip bath should be taken before 
retiring. During the access of pain or spasms 
hot hip baths, applications of hot poultices to the 
abdomen, hot applications to the feet, mucilagin- 
ous — such as hot decoctions of hops, marsh mallow 
or chamomile, etc., — and vaginal injections of 
warm water will afford relief. If the bowels are 
not free, they should be relieved by warm enemas 
of water. No iced water, or very cold drinks of any 
kind, should be taken immediately before or dur- 
ing menstruation ; a mouthful of cold water has in 
many instances brought back all the pains that have 
been relieved by proper treatment. Dr. Hayden's 
Viburnum Compound which is prescribed and 
recommended by more physicians than any other 
preparation, is now employed with the greatest 
success. It is agreeable to the taste, perfectly 
safe, free from all opiates, and may be obtained in 
any quantity of any respectable druggist. In 
cases where the patient suffers greatly at the 
monthly periods it is well to commence by giving 
teaspoonful doses every night for a week previous 
to the usual time. On the appearance of the cata- 
menia the patient, if she has not already done so, 
should immediately go to bed, and cover up warm- 
ly. Stimulating food and drinks should be 
avoided. Give two-teaspoonful doses of the Vi- 



CHANGE OF LIFE. 5 1 

burnum Compound every half hour, in a wine- 
glassful of hot water, sweetened, and continue to 
do so until relief is obtained, unless the stomach 
rejects it, in which case the dose should be reduced 
until it is tolerated. Frequently, after taking the 
Viburnum Compound the patient will sleep 
soundly for several hours from the sudden cessation 
of pain. She should not be awakened through 
any fear of over-sleeping, as the Compound does 
not contain any narcotics whatever, nor does it 
leave any disagreeable after effects. It may be 
given to a child, if necessary, without any special 
caution. 

The following is also highly commended : 

Tincture of Aconite Leaves, . . 2 drams. 

Sweet Spirits of Nitre I ounce. 

Morphia, ...... 2 grains. 

Simple Syrup, ...... 4 ounces. 

Dose, one teaspoonful every half hour until relieved. 

Change of Life. — By the phrase, "change of life," 
or the critical period, we understand the final 
cessation, or stoppage of the menses. It usually 
takes place between the ages of forty and fifty, 
although in some cases it may occur as early as 
thirty, and in others not until sixty ; however, we 
can expect the change about the forty-fifth year. 
" At puberty the ovary enlarges until it attains its 
full development, and begins its work of casting off 
each month a perfected ovule. When the forty- 
fifth year of a woman's life is reached the reverse 
process begins. The ovary begins to shrivel, soon 



52 MENSTRUATION. 

reaching the size and acquiring much the appear- 
ance of a peachstone. A few months later it is 
still more shrunken, and after the cessation of the 
menses it often becomes so shrunken as to be 
scarcely recognizable. At the same time that the 
ovaries are undergoing this remarkable degenera- 
tive change, a similar change is taking place in the 
other organs of generation. The uterus also di- 
minishes in size, as does also the vagina. The 
mouth of the womb becomes contracted, and after 
a time entirely closed. The upper part of the vag- 
ina is often contracted to such a degree as to pro- 
duce folds closely resembling those which result 
from serious inflammations about the uterus. The 
breasts are diminished in size. These changes in- 
dicate unmistakably the decline of the function of 
reproduction, preparatory to its entire suspension." 
The symptoms will vary according to the con- 
stitution of the woman ; in some the change occurs 
by the discharge gradually diminishing in quantity, 
in others by the intervals between the periods be- 
ing lengthened. The woman may pass this period 
without having any more unpleasant symptoms 
than an occasional rush of blood to the head, or a 
headache. Others, however, may have very severe 
symptoms arise, which will require the care of an 
intelligent physician. These disagreeable sensa- 
tions should receive a careful consideration, and 
not be hushed up with the reply that these com- 
plaints arise from the "change of life," and will 
vanish whenever that change takes place. The 



CHANGE OF LIFE — SYMPTOMS. S3 

foundation of serious trouble may be laid, which 
will make the remainder of her existence a burden, 
and cut short a life which might have been con- 
ducted to a green old age. While this change is 
in progress, in probably the majority of cases there 
is more or less disturbance of the health. It is 
sometimes quite impossible to say exactly what is 
the trouble with the patient, except that she is out 
of health. The following are some of the symp- 
toms which may arise : 

Symptoms. — Headache, dizziness ; biliousness, 
sour stomach, indigestion, diarrhoea, costiveness, 
piles ; itching of the private parts ; cramps and 
colic in the bowels ; palpitation of the heart ; 
swelling of the limbs and abdomen ; pains in the 
back and loins ; paleness and general weakness. 

The neuralgias, nervousness, fidgets and hys- 
terias which afflict some women at this period are 
such as to make life miserable. Flushings are also 
a frequent nervous disorder, caused by the rushing 
of the blood to any part of the body. Sometimes 
the flushing is accompanied by excessive heat or 
by violent throbbing. Sometimes nausea and 
vomiting accompany the flushing, or the patient 
may be thrown into a profuse perspiration, while 
at other times the mind becomes so excited that it 
amounts to actual delirium. These perspirations 
are sometimes so profuse as to saturate the bed- 
clothing. They may follow the flushing or occur 
independently. Usually they occur during sleep. 
They also attend mental excitement of any kind. 



54 MENSTRUATION. 

Most women look forward to " change of life " 
with serious apprehension, and the prevailing opin- 
ion is that it is a period of great risk to health and 
even to life. This is a mistaken notion, however, 
and recent investigation proves that there is less 
mortality among women at this period than among 
men of the same age, and also that there is less 
mortality among women during this decade than 
during any other decade after the age of puberty. 
Women who safely pass this period have also a 
better chance of living to a ripe old age than have 
men. The woman who comes to this period with 
a constitution unimpaired by fashionable dressing, 
by dissipation, or by excesses of any kind, has lit- 
tle or nothing to fear, and will almost invariably 
pass it quickly, and with safety. To the woman 
with feeble health and a broken constitution, how- 
ever, this may prove indeed a critical period, and 
she may well look forward to this time with appre- 
hension and forebodings. A proper preparation 
will do much to mitigate the sufferings of this age, 
and it is well, indeed, if being forewarned in time, 
she begins to correct the evils of the past in mat- 
ters pertaining to dress, diet and exercise. It is 
highly important that all the laws of health be 
rigorously obeyed. A warm bath taken two or 
three times a week will be found very beneficial. 
The pains in the back or bowels can usually be re- 
moved by applications of heat to the affected 
parts. This may be done by means of a hot brick, 
or by the use of the hot water bottle. The treat- 
ment should be taken twice a dav, and should last 



CHANGE OF LIFE — TREATMENT. 5 s 

about one half hour. For congestion of the uterus 
and for hemorrhages the vaginal douche is invalu- 
able. The water used should be hot, and should 
be administered by means of the fountain syringe, 
though any syringe may be used, but care should 
be taken that the water be thrown h ; gh up against 
the affected parts. In case of inflammation of the 
uterus or ovaries a hot sitz-bath should be taken 
daily, and for " flushings " the most simple and ef- 
ficient treatment is hot spongings of the congested 
parts. Profuse sweating may be relieved by 
sponging with hot salt water, or with equal parts 
of water and alcohol. 

" With the approach of the change of life it is 
usual for the sexual passions to cease. The repro- 
ductive organs have finished their work, and it is 
but natural that the feelings dependent upon them 
should also cease to exist. Sometimes, how- 
ever, the opposite is the case, and the passions 
increase in intensity, and become more violent 
than at any other time of their lives. This 
condition of things should always be looked upon 
with serious apprehensions, for it is against nature, 
and may be the indication of some grave disease. 
There is no doubt but that sexual gratification at 
this time is a very common cause of intensifying 
all the numerous inconveniences and ailments 
which are attendant upon this period, and hence 
continence is not only recommended but should be 
enjoined as one of the most essential hvgienic 
measures by which a safe and rapid transit through 
this period of sexual decline may be insured." 



CHAPTER IV. 



PREGNANCY. 



The first sign that leads a woman to believe that 
she is pregnant is her ceasing to be unwell. This, 
providing she has just before been in good health, 
is a strong symptom of pregnane)- ; but still there 
must be others to corroborate it. 

A healthy married woman, during the period of 
child-bearing, suddenly ceasing to menstruate, is 
of itself alone almost a sure and certain sign of 
pregnancy — requiring but little else to confirm it. 
This fact is well known by all who have had chil- 
dren — they base their predictions and their calcula- 
tions upon it, and upon it alone, and are, in conse- 
quence, seldom deceived. 

But as failure to menstruate may proceed from 
other causes than that of pregnancy — such as dis- 
ease or disorder of the womb, or of other organs 
of the body — especially of the lungs — it is not by 
itself alone entirely to be depended upon ; although, 
as a single sign, it is — especially if the patient is 
healthy—//^ most reliable of all the other signs of 
pregnancy. 

The next symptom is morning-sickness . This is 
one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy ; as it 

(56) 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY — MORNING-SICKNESS. 57 

sometimes occurs a few days, and indeed generally 
not later than two or three weeks, after concep- 
tion. Morning-sickness is frequently distressing, 
oftentimes amounting to vomiting, and causing a 
loathing for breakfast. This sign usually disap- 
pears after the first two or three months. Morning- 
sickness is not always present in pregnancy, but, 
nevertheless, it is a frequent accompaniment ; and 
many who have had families place more reliance 
on this than on any other symptom. Morning- 
sickness is one of the earliest, if not the very earli- 
est, symptom of pregnancy ; and is, by some ladies, 
taken as their starting point from which to com- 
mence making their count. 

Morning-sickness, then, if it does not arise from a 
disordered stomach, is one of the most trustworthy 
signs of pregnancy. A lady who has once had 
morning-sickness can always, for the future, distin- 
guish it from each and from every other sickness ; 
it is a peculiar sickness, which no other sickness 
can simulate. Moreover, it is emphatically a morn- 
ing-sickness — the patient being, as a rule, for the 
rest of the day entirely free from sickness, or from 
the feeling of sickness. 

A third symptom is shooting, throbbing and lan- 
cinating pains, and enlargement of the breast, with 
soreness of the nipples, occurring about the second 
month ; and in some instances, alter the first few 
months, a small quantity of watery fluid, or a little 
milk, may be squeezed out of them. This latter 
symptom, in a first pregnancy, is valuable, and can 






58 PREGNANCY. 

generally be relied upon as conclusive that the 
woman is pregnant. It is not so valuable in an 
after pregnancy, as a little milk might, even should 
she not be pregnant, remain in the breasts for some 
months after she has weaned her child. 

The veins of the breast look more blue, and are 
consequently more conspicuous than usual, giving 
the bosom a mottled appearance. The breasts 
themselves are firmer and more knotty to the touch. 
The nipples, in the majority of cases, look more 
healthy than customary, and are somewhat elevated 
and enlarged ; there is generally a slight moisture 
upon their surface, sufficient, in some instances, to 
mark the linen. 

A dark-brown areola or disc may usually be no- 
ticed around the nipple* (Plate 6), the change of 
color commencing about the second month. The 
tint at first is light brown, which gradually deep- 
ens in intensity, until toward the end of pregnancy 
the color may be very dark. Dr. Montgomery, 
who paid great attention to the subject, observes : 
" During the progress of the next two or three 
months the changes in the areola are, in general, 
perfected, or nearly so, and then it presents the fol- 
lowing characters : A circle around the nipple, 
whose color varies in intensity according to the 
particular complexion of the individual, being usu- 
ally much darker in persons with black hair, dark 
eyes and sallow skin, than in those of fair hair, 

♦"William Hunter had such faith in this sign that he always asserted that 
he could judge by it alone whether or not a woman was pregnant." — Signs and 
Diseases of Pregnayicy (Dr. Tanner.) 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY — QUICKENING. 59 

light-colored eyes and delicate complexion. The 
area ol this circle varies in diameter Irom an inch to 
an inch and a half, and increases, in most persons, 
as pregnancy advances, as does also the depth of 
color." The dark areola is somewhat swollen. 
" There is," says Dr. Montgomery, "a puffy tur- 
gescence, not only of the nipple, but of the whole 
surrounding disc." 

Women who have had large families, seldom, 
even when they are not enciente, lose this mark en- 
tirely ; but when they are pregnant, it is more 
intensely dark — the darkest brown — especially 
so with brunettes. 

A fourth symptom is quickening. This gener- 
ally occurs about the completion of the fourth cal- 
endar month ; frequently a week or two before the 
end of that period, at other times a week or two 
later. A lady sometimes quickens as early as the 
third month, while others, although rarely, quicken 
as late as the fifth, and in very rare cases, the sixth 
month. It will therefore be seen that there is an 
uncertainty as to the period of quickening, 
although, as I before remarked, the usual period 
occurs at four and a half months — or when the 
pregnancy is half completed. 

Quickening is one of the most important signs 
of pregnancy, and also one of the most valuable. 
As a rule, the moment she quickens, she first feels 
the motion of the child, and at the same time, she 
increases in size. After this time there is less dan- 
ger of miscarriage. 



60 PREGNANCY. 

A lady at this time frequently either feels faint, 
or actually faints away ; she is often either giddy, 
sick, or nervous, and, in some instances, even hys- 
terical ; although, in rare cases, the precise time of 
quickening may not be known. • 

The sensation of quickening is said by many 
ladies to resemble the fluttering of a bird ; by others 
it is likened to a heaving, beating, or leaping sen- 
sation ; accompanied, sometimes, with a frightened 
feeling. These sensations after the first day of 
quickening usually come on eight or ten times a 
day, although it may happen for days together that 
the patient does not feel the movement of the child ; 
or if at all, but very slightly. 

Quickening arises from the ascent of the womb 
into the abdomen. Owing to the increased size 
there is not room for it below. Another cause of 
quickening is the child has reached a further stage 
of development, and has, in consequence, become 
stronger both in its muscular and nervous struct- 
ure, and has strength and motion of limbs, power- 
ful enough to kick and plunge about the womb, 
and thus cause the sensation of quickening. The 
old-fashioned idea was that the child was not alive 
until a woman had quickened. This is a mistaken 
notion, as the foetus is alive from the very moment 
of conception. 

Flatulence has sometimes misled a young wife to 
fancy that she has quickened ; but in determining 
whether she is pregnant she ought never to be sat- 
isfied with one symptom alone ; if so she will fre- 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY — FLATULENCE. 6 1 

quently be misled. The following are a few of the 
symptoms that will distinguish the one from the 
other: In flatulence the patient is small one hour 
and large the next ; while in pregnancy the en- 
largement is persistent, and daily and gradually 
increases. In flatulence, on pressing the bowels 
firmly, a rumbling of wind may be heard, which 
will move about at will ; while the enlargement of 
the womb, in pregnancy, is solid, resistant and sta- 
tionary. In flatulence, on tapping the abdomen, 
there will be a hollow sound elicited, as from a 
drum, while in pregnancy it will be a dull, heavy 
sound, as from thrumming on a table. In flatu- 
lence, if the points of the fingers are firmly pressed 
into the abdomen, the wind will move about — in 
pregnancy they will be resisted by a wall of flesh. 

The fifth symptom is, immediately after the 
quickening, increased size and hardness of the abdo- 
men. An accumulation of fat covering the abdo- 
men has sometimes misled a woman to think that 
she is pregnant. 

Increased size and hardness of the abdomen is very 
characteristic of pregnancy. When not pregnant 
the abdomen is soft and flaccid ; when pregnant, 
and after quickening, the abdomen, over the region 
of the womb, is hard and resisting. 

The sixth symptom is pouting or protrusion of 
the navel. This symptom does not occur until some 
time after quickening. During the first two 
months of pregnancy, the navel is drawn in and 
depressed. As the pregnancy advances, the navel 



62 PREGNANCY. 

gradually comes forward. " The navel according 
to the progress of pregnancy, is constantly emerg- 
ing, till it comes to an even surface with the integ- 
uments of the abdomen ; and to this circumstance 
much regard is to be paid, in cases of doubtful 
pregnancy." 

The seventh symptom is emaciation ; the face, 
especially the nose, is pinched and pointed ; the 
features are altered ; the face, as the pregnancy ad- 
vances, gradually resumes its natural comeliness. 
Emaciation may, and does occur from other causes 
besides those of pregnancy ; but still, if there is 
emaciation, together with other signs of pregnancy, 
it tends to confirm the patient in her convictions 
that she is enciente. 

Many a plump lady tells of her pregnancy by 
her sudden emaciation. There is one comfort, 
however, for as soon as the pregnancy is over, if 
not before, the body usually regains its former 
plumpness. 

The eighth symptom is irritability of the bladder 
which is, sometimes, one of the early signs of preg- 
nancy. It is, likewise, frequently one of the early 
symptoms of labor. The irritability of the bladder, 
in early pregnancy, is oftentimes very distressing 
and very painful — the patient being disturbed from 
her sleep several times in the night to urinate 
— passing generally but a lew drops at a time. 
This symptom usually leaves her as soon as she has 
quickened ; to return again — usually without pain 
— just before the commencement of labor. 



PREGNANCY — SYMPTOMS. 63 

There is very little to be done in such cases, in 
the way of relief. One of the best remedies is, — a 
small teaspoonful of Sweet Spirits of Nitre (Sp. 
^Ether. Nit.) in a wine-glass full of water, taken at 
bed-time. Drinking plentifully, as a beverage, of 
barley water with best gum arabic dissolved in it 
— half an ounce ol gum to every pint of barley wa- 
ter — the gum arabic being dissolved in the barley 
water by putting them both in a saucepan over the 
fire, and stirring the while until the gum is dis- 
solved. This beverage may be sweetened accord- 
ing to taste. 

Sleepiness, heartburn, increased flow of saliva 
(amounting, in some cases even to salivation), tooth- 
ache, loss of appetite, longings, excitability of mind, 
liver or sulphur colored patches on the skin, and likes 
and dislikes in eating, — any one of these symptoms 
may accompany pregnancy; but as they often arise 
from other causes, they are not to be relied on 
further than this — that if they attend the more cer- 
tain signs of pregnancy, such as cessation of the 
menses, morning sickness, pains and enlargement 
of the breasts, the gradually darkening brown 
areola or mark around the nipple, etc., they will 
then make assurance doubly sure, and a woman 
may know certainly that she is pregnant. * 

Sleepiness often accompanies pregnancy, the pa- 

*This work is exclusively intended for the perusal of wives. I beg, how- 
ever, to observe that there is one sign of pregnancy which I have not "pointed 
out, but which to a medical man is very conclusive: I mean ihe sounds of the 
foetal heari, indicated bv the stethoscope, and which is for the first time heard 
somewhere about the fifth month. Moreover, there are other means besides the 
stethoscope known to a doctor, bv which he can with certainty tell whether or 
not a woman is pregnant, but which would be quite out of place to describe in 
a popular work of this kind. 



64 PREGNANCY. 

tient being able to sleep in season and out of 
season. 

Heartburn. — Some women in pregnancy are 
much afflicted with heartburn ; for affliction it as- 
suredly is ; but heartburn as a rule, although very 
disagreeable, is rather a sign that the patient will 
go her time. Heartburn is very amenable to treat- 
ment, and is generally much relieved by ammonia 
and soda — a prescription for which will be found 
on page 109. 

Increased flow of saliva is sometimes a symptom 
of pregnancy, amounting, in rare cases, to regular 
salivation — the patient being, for a time, in a pitiable 
condition. It lasts usually for days ; sometimes 
even for weeks, and is most disagreeable, but is 
not at all dangerous. 

Toothache is a frequent sign of pregnancy — preg- 
nancy being often very destructive to the teeth — 
destroying one with every child ! 

Loss of Appetite. — Some women have, more 
especially during the early months of pregnancy — 
wretched appetites ; they loathe their food, and 
dread the approach of meal-times. Others, on the 
contrary, eat more heartily during pregnancy 
than at any other period of their lives — they are 
absolutely ravenous, and can scarcely satisfy their 
hunger ! 

The longings of a pregnant woman are some- 
times truly absurd ; but, like almost everything 
else, it grows upon what it is fed. They long for 
roast pig, for pork, raw carrots, raw turnips, raw 



PREGNANCY — CLOTHING. 6$ 

meat — for anything and for everything that is un- 
wholesome, and which they would at any other 
time loathe and turn away from in disgust. The 
best plan of treatment to adopt, is not to give way to 
such longings, unless they are of a harmless, 
simple nature, in which case they will soon pass 
away. 

Excitability of mind is very common in preg- 
nancy, more especially if the patient is delicate ; in- 
deed, excitability is a sign of debility, and requires 
plenty of good nourishment, but few stimulants. 

Likes and dislikes in eating are of frequent oc- 
currence — particularly in early pregnancy — more 
especially if the patient has naturally a weak diges- 
tion. If the digestion is weak she is sure to have 
a disordered stomach — one following the other in 
regular sequence. A little appropriate medicine 
will rectify the evil, and improve the digestion, and 
thus do away with likes and dislikes in eating. 

Liver or sulphur colored patches on the skin — 
principally on the face, neck, and throat — are tell- 
tales of pregnancy, and to an experienced matron, 
publish the fact that an acquaintance, thus marked, 
is enciente. 

Clothing. — Some women to hide their pregnancy 
from their friends and acquaintances, screw them- 
selves up in tight stays and in tight dresses. This 
is not only foolish, but it is dangerous, and may 
cause either a miscarriage, a premature labor, a 
cross-birth, or falling of the womb. 

A pregnant woman ought on no account to 



66 PREGNANCY. 

wear tight dresses, as the child should have plenty 
of room. She ought to be, as enciente signifies, 
incincta, or unbound. Let the clothes be adapted 
to the gradual development, both of the abdomen 
and the breasts. 

"Tight lacing is the chief cause of infantile 
mortality. That it inflicts the very worst forms of 
ruin on woman and offspring, is self-evident. No 
evil equals that of curtailing this maternal supply 
of breath ; nor does anything do this as effectually 
as tight lacing. If it were merely a female folly, 
or if its ravages were confined to its perpetrators, 
it might be allowed to pass unrebuked ; but it 
strikes a deadly blow at the very life of the race. 
By girting in the lungs, stomach, heart, diaphragm, 
etc., it cripples every one of the life-manufacturing 
functions, impairs the circulation, prevents mus- 
cular action, and lays siege to the child-bearing 
citadel itself. By the value of abundant maternal 
vitality, air, exercise and digestion, is this practice 
murderous to both. It often destroys germinal 
life before or soon after birth, by most effectually 
cramping, inflaming and weakening the vital ap- 
paratus and stopping the flow of life at its fountain 
head. It slowly but surely takes the lives of tens 
of thousands before they marry, and so effectually 
weakens and diseases as ultimately to cause the 
death of millions. No tongue can tell, no finite 
mind conceive the misery it has occasioned nor the 
number of deaths directly and indirectly of young 
women, bearing mothers, and weakly infants it has 



EVIL EFFECTS OF LACING. 6? 

occasioned ; besides the millions upon millions it 
has caused to drag out a short but wretched exist- 
ence. If this murderous practice continues another 
generation, it will bury all the middle and upper 
classes of women and children and leave propaga- 
tion to the coarse-grained, but healthy, lower 
classes. Most alarmingly has it already deteriora- 
ted our very race in physical strength, power of 
constitution energy and talents. Let those who 
had rather bury than raise their children, marry 
tight lacers." 

The great thing is for a mother to begin from 
the beginning, and never allow her daughter to 
wear corsets at all, in which case these painful 
consequences could not possibly ensue. If stays 
had never been invented, how much misery, defor 
mity. disease, and death might have been averted ! 
Another crying evil is that of .wearing the under- 
clothing suspended around the hips. It is of vital 
importance that the full weight of all clothing 
worn should be borne wholly by the shoulders. 
If suspended around the waist the weight falls 
directly upon the bowels, pressing them down- 
ward, and as we shall see in another chapter, 
crowding them against the rectum, and thus caus- 
ing constipation. Not only this, but the womb 
must suffer severely from the pressure thus brought 
to bear upon it, and to this cause as well as to 
tight lacing is due the numerous disorders and 
displacements of this organ. If this is true when 
the womb is of normal size, how much more injur- 



68 PREGNANCY. 

ious must be the effect in pregnancy, in which con- 
dition each day increases the size, causing it to 
push upward and outward and continually to de- 
mand more room. There should be no bands 
about the hips, but in place of them the under-gar- 
ments should be made continuous from the shoul- 
ders and so loose that they would fall over the 
hips, if not supported from the shoulders. Be- 
neath this chemiloon the Jersey fitting combination 
suit may be worn. ''Skirt supporters" will keep 
the skirts in position, or better still, one of the 
numerous forms of "hygienic waists" may be used, 
to which the skirts may be buttoned. These 
answer the purpose of the corset, giving a neat 
and trim appearance to the figure and at the same 
time allowing full freedom to the waist and increas- 
ing abdomen. 

Bathing. — A warm bath in pregnancy is too re- 
laxing. A tepid bath once a week is beneficial. 
Sponging the whole of the body every morning 
with lukewarm water may with safety and advant- 
age be adopted, gradually reducing the tempera- 
ture of the water until it is quite cool. The skin 
should, with moderately coarse towels, be quickly 
but thoroughly dried. 

A sitz-bath ought every morning to be used. 
The patient should first sponge herself, and then 
finish up by sitting a few seconds in the water. It 
is better not to be long in it ; it is a slight shock 
that is required, which, where the sitz-bath agrees, 
is immediately followed by an agreeable glow of 



EXERCISE IN PREGNANCY. 69 

the whole body. If the bath is prolonged beyond 
the right time, the patient becomes chilled and tired, 
and is very likely to catch cold. She ought, until 
she becomes accustomed to the cold, to have a dash 
of warm water added ; but the sooner she can use 
quite cool water, the better. While sitting in the 
bath, either a woolen shawl or a small blanket should 
be thrown over the shoulders. The patient will 
find the greatest comfort and benefit from adopting 
the above recommendation. Instead of giving, it will 
prevent cold, and it will be one of the means of 
warding off a miscarriage, and of keeping her in 
good health. 

If cold water does not agree, tepid water may 
be used. Indeed, during the last few days of preg- 
nancy, and in the early stages of labor, the water 
for the sitz-bath should be warm, and a warm vagi- 
nal douche, by means of a fountain syringe, should 
be taken in connection. Care should be used that 
the water is not too hot ; the temperature should 
be about the same as that of the body. In hard 
and lingering confinements, hot sitz-batlis should be 
taken. There is nothing that tends to soften and 
relax the parts and make dilation easy and painless 
as does the application of warm or hot water. The 
most beneficial results can but follow if the above 
advice is carefully heeded. Shower baths give too 
great a shock, and should not be taken. 

Air and Exercise. — A young wife, in her first 
pregnancy, usually takes too long walks. This is 
a common cause of fiooding, of miscarriage , and 01 



70 PREGNANCY. 

falling of the womb. As soon as a woman has the 
slightest suspicion that she is pregnant, she must be 
careful in taking exercise. 

Although long walks are injurious, she ought not 
to run into an opposite extreme — short, gentle, and 
frequent walks during the whole period of preg- 
nancy cannot be too strongly recommended ; in- 
deed, a pregnant woman ought to live half her 
time in the open air. Fresh air and exercise pre- 
vent many of the unpleasant symptoms attendant 
on that state ; they keep her in health, tend to open 
the bowels, and relieve that sensation of faintness 
and depression so common and distressing in early 
pregnancy. 

Exercise, fresh air and occupation are essen- 
tially necessary in pregnancy. If they are neg- 
lected, hard and tedious labors are likely to ensue. 
The easy and quick labors and rapid recoveries of 
poor women are greatly due to the abundance of 
exercise and of occupation which they are both 
daily and hourly obliged to get through. Many a 
poor woman thinks but little of confinement, while 
a rich one is full of anxiety about the result. Let 
the rich lady adopt the poor woman's industrious 
and abstemious habits, and labor need not then be 
looked forward to, as it frequently now is, either 
with dread or with apprehension. 

Stooping, lifting of heavy weights, and over- 
reaching, ought to be carefully avoided. Running, 
horseback riding and dancing, are likewise dan- 
gerous — they frequently induce a miscarriage. 



EXERCISE IN PREGNANCY. ?t 

Indolence is most injurious in pregnancy. It is 
impossible for a pregnant woman, who is reclining 
all day on a sofa or an easy chair, to be strong ; 
such a habit is most enervating to the mother, and 
weakening to her unborn babe. It is the custom 
of some women, as soon as they become pregnant, 
to treat themselves as confirmed invalids, and to 
lie down, in consequence, the greater part of every 
day. This plan instead of being refreshing, is ex- 
ceedingly depressing. The only time to lie down 
is occasionally in the day — when absolutely need- 
ing the refreshment of rest. 

A woman who, during the greater part of the 
day, lounges on a sofa or an easy chair, and seldom 
walks out, has a much more lingering and painful 
labor than one who takes moderate and regular 
open-air exercise, and who attends to her house- 
hold duties. An active life is the principal reason 
why the wives of the poor have such quick and 
easy labors, and such good recoveries ; why their 
babies are so rosy, healthy and strong, notwith- 
standing the privations and hardships and poverty 
of the parents. 

Bear in mind that a lively, active woman has an 
easier and quicker confinement, and a finer race of 
children, than one who is lethargic and indolent. 
Idleness brings misery, anguish and suffering in its 
train, and particularly affects pregnant women. 
Oh, that these words would have due weight, then 
this book will not have been written in vain ! The 
hardest work in the world is having nothing to do ! 



72 PREGNANCY. 

Woman sometimes look upon pregnancy more 
as a disease than as a natural process ;" hence she 
treats herself as though she were a regular invalid, 
and unfortunately, she too often makes herself 
really one by improper and foolish indulgences. 

Ventilation. — Let every woman look well to the 
ventilation of her house ; let her take care that every 
chimney is unstopped, and during the daytime 
that every window in every unoccupied room is 
thrown open. Where there is a skylight at the top 
of the house, it is well to have it made to open and 
shut, so that in the daytime it may, winter and 
summer, be always open. Nothing so thoroughly 
ventilates and purifies a house as an open sky- 

light. 

My firm belief is, that if more attention were 
paid to ventilation — to thorough ventilation — child- 
bed fever would be an almost unknown disease. 
The cooping-up system is abominable ; it engenders 
all manner of infectious and loathsome diseases, and 
not only engenders them, but feeds them, and thus 
keeps them alive. There is nothing wonderful in 
all this, if we consider, but for one moment, that 
the exhalations from the lungs are poisonous. The 
lungs give off carbonic acid gas (a deadly poison), 
which, if it is not allowed to escape, must be 
breathed over and over again. If the perspiration 
of the body (which in twenty-four hours amounts 
to two or three pounds !) is not permitted to escape 
from the apartment, it must become fcetid — repug- 
nant, sickening, and injurious to the health. The 



VENTILATION — DISINFECTANTS. 73 

nose is a sentinel, and often warns its owner of ap- 
proaching danger ! 

The Almighty has sent bad smells for our benefit 
to warn us of danger ! If it were not for an un- 
pleasant smell, we should be constantly running 
into destruction ! How often we hear of an igno- 
rant person using disinfectants and fumigations to 
deprive drains and other horrid places of their 
odors ; as though, if the place could be robbed of 
its smell, it could be robbed of its danger ! Strange 
infatuation ! No ; the frequent flushing of drains, 
the removal of nuisances, cleanliness, a good scrub- 
bing of soap and water, sunshine, and the air and 
winds of heaven, are the best disinfectants in the 
world ! A celebrated and eccentric lecturer in sur- 
gery — Abernathy — in addressing his class, made 
the following quaint and sensible remark : " Fum- 
igations, gentlemen, are of essential importance ; 
they make so abominable a stink, that they compel 
you to open the windows and admit fresh air." 

To destroy the smell is not to destroy the 
danger ; certainly not! The right way to do away 
with the danger is to remove the cause, and the 
effect will cease. Flushing a sewer is far more 
efficacious than disinfecting one. Soap and water, 
the scrubbing brush, sunshine and thorough venti- 
lation, each and all are far more beneficial than 
either permanganate of potash, chloride of zinc, 
or chloride of lime. People in these times think 
too much of disinfectants, and too little of removal 
of causes ; they think too much of artificial, and 
too little of natural means. 



74 PREGNANCY. 

Not only is the nose a sentinel, but pain is a 
sentinel. The sense of pain is necessary to our 
very existence ; we should, if it were not for pain, 
be constantly falling into many great and grievous 
dangers; we should, if it were not for pain, be 
running into the fire and be burned ; we should, if 
it were not for pain, swallow hot fluids and be 
scalded ; we should, if it were not for pain, be con- 
stantly letting things go the wrong way, and be 
suffocated ; we should, if it were not for pain, al- 
low foreign substances to enter the eye, and be 
blinded ; we should, if it were not for pain, be 
lulled to a false security, and allow disease to go 
unchecked and unattended, until we had permitted 
the time to pass by when remedies were of little or 
no avail. Pain is a sentinel, and guards us from 
danger; pain is like a true friend, who sometimes 
gives a little pain to save a greater pain ; pain 
sometimes resembles the surgeon's knife, it gives 
pain to cure pain ; sense of pain is a blessed pro- 
vision of nature, and is designed for the protec- 
tion, preservation, and prolongation of life ! 

What we want is a little less theory, and a great 
deal more common sense. 

Contagious diseases are bred and fed in badly- 
ventilated houses. Ill-ventilated houses are hot- 
beds of disease. "A small basket of charcoal 
should be placed in the room, and even in the bed, 
of every invalid, in order that it may absorb the 
carbonic acid gas floating in the air, thus ren- 
dering the atmosphere purer and more whole- 



DEADLY EFFECT OF DRAIN POISON. 7$ 

some." Contagion is subtle, quick, invisible and 
inscrutable — tremendous in its effects ; it darts its 
poison like a rattlesnake, and instantly the body is 
infected, and the strongest giant suddenly becomes 
as helpless as the feeble infant. 

Not only should the ventilation of the house be 
well looked after, but it ought to be ascertained that 
the drains are in good and perfect order, that the 
privies are frequently emptied of their contents, 
and that neither drain fluid nor privy fluid commu- 
nicates, in any way whatever, with the supply 
of drinking water. Bad drainage and overflowing 
privies are fruitful sources of child-bed fever, 
gastric fever, scarlatina, diphtheria, cholera, and a 
host of other infectious, contagious and dangerous 
diseases. It is an abominable practice to allow dirt 
to fester near human habitations. 

Drain poison is so instantaneous in its effects, so 
subtle in its operations, so deadly in its conse- 
quences, so untiring in its labors — working both 
day and night — that it may well be said to be " the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness," and " the 
sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day." 

Look well to the purity of the well water, and 
ascertain that no drain either enters, percolates, or 
contaminates it in any way whatever. If it should 
do so, disease, such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysen- 
tery, diphtheria, scarlet fever or gastric fever, will, 
as a matter of course, ensue. If there is the 
slightest danger or risk of drain contamination, 
whenever it is practicable, let the drain be taken 



j6 PREGNANCY. 

up and examined, and the defect carefully rectified. 
When it is impracticable to have the drain taken 
up and examined, then always boil the water 
before using. The boiling of water, as experience 
teaches, has the power either of destroying or 
making innocuous the specific organic faecal life 
poison, which propagates in drain contamination 
the diseases above enumerated. 

The water from the drive well is far superior to 
water from the old pump well; the water from the 
former is always pure, while from the latter it is 
usually most impure — it is oftentimes little better 
than water from a cesspool, being contaminated 
either with drainage impurities, faecal matter, or 
water from land springs. I should advise my friends 
who are about building houses, to sink the drive 
well, and have nothing to do with the antiquated 
pump, which is both a nuisance and a danger ; in-, 
deed, impure water is one of the most frequent 
causes of diphtheria, scarlet fever, dysentery, chol- 
era, and gastric fever. The pump, in fifty years 
hence, will be what stage coaches are now, things 
of the past — a curiosity ! 

Necessity of occasional rest.— A pregnant woman 
ought to lie down frequently during the day. This, 
if there is either a bearing-down of the womb or 
a predisposition to miscarry, will be particularly 
necessary. I should recommend this plan through- 
out the whole period of pregnancy ; in the early 
months to prevent a miscarriage, and in the latter 
months, on account of the increased weight and 
size of the womb. 



SLEEP— RESTLESSNESS. 77 

The modern sofas are most uncomfortable to lie 
upon ; they are not made for comfort, but for 
show ; one of the good old-fashioned sofas should 
be selected for the purpose, in order that the back 
may be properly and thoroughly rested. 

There is, occasionally, during the latter months, 
a difficulty in lying down — the patient feeling 
each time a suffocating sensation. When such is 
the case, she ought to rest upon the sofa, and be 
propped up with cushions. I consider rest at dif- 
ferent periods of the day necessary and beneficial. 
If there is any difficulty in lying down at night, a 
bed-rest, well covered with pillows, will be found 
a great comfort. 

Sleep. — The bedroom ought, if practicable, to be 
large and airy. Particular attention must be paid 
to the ventilation. The chimney should on no ac- 
count be stopped. The door and the windows 
ought in the daytime to be thrown wide open, and 
the bedclothes should be thrown back, that the air 
might, before the approach of night, well ventilate 
them. Pure air and a frequent change of air is 
quite necessary-. 

The bed must not be loaded with clothes, more 
especially with a thick coverlet. If the weather is 
cold, let an extra blanket be put on the bed, as the 
perspiration can permeate through a blanket when 
it cannot through a thick coverlet. The knitted, 
for the summer, are the best, as they allow the per- 
spiration from the body to escape ; and the eider- 
down, for winter, are light, warm, and ventilating. 



78 PREGNANCY. 

It is a marvel how some people, with four or five 
blankets, and with a thick coverlet on the bed, can 
sleep at all; their skins and lungs are smothered, 
and are not allowed to breathe, for the skin is as 
much a breathing apparatus as are the lungs them- 
selves. This is a mistake, and fraught with serious 
consequences ! 

The bedroom, at night, should be dark; hence 
the importance of either shutters, Venetian blinds 
or dark blinds impervious to light, or thick cur- 
tains to the windows. The chamber too, should 
be as far removed from noise as possible — noise is 
an enemy to sleep. 

The pregnant woman is sometimes restless at 
night — she feels oppressed and hot. The best rem- 
edies are: — (i.) Scant clothing on the bed. (2.) 
The lower sash of the window, during the sum- 
mer, to be left open six or eight inches, and during 
the winter, two or three inches; providing the 
room is large, the bed is not too near the window, 
and the weather not intensely cold. If any or all 
of these latter circumstances occur, then (3) the 
window should be closed and the door left ajar. 
(4.) Attention should be paid to the bowels if cos- 
tive — but not otherwise. (5.) Stimulants of all 
kinds are to be avoided. (6.) Gentle walking ex- 
ercise. (7.) Sponging the body every morning — 
in the winter with tepid water, and in the summer 
with cold water. (8.) Cooling fruits, in summer, 
are in such cases very healthful and refreshing. 

Pains at night, during the latter months of preg- 



GENERAL TREATMENT. 79 

nancy, are usually frequent, so much so as to make 
an inexperienced woman think her labor at hand. 
Apply "Stimulating Liniment," — which can be 
procured at any drugstore, — and keep the bowels 
covered with warm, dry flannels. If they are vio- 
lent, a physician should be called. 

A pregnant woman should retire early. She 
ought to be in bed every night by ten o'clock, and 
should make a point of rising early in the morning, 
that she may have a thorough bath, a stroll in the 
garden, and an early breakfast. Afterward a short 
walk should be taken while the air is pure and in- 
vigorating. But how often, more especially when 
a lady is first married, is an opposite plan adopted. 
The importance of bringing a healthy child into 
the world, if not for her own and her husband's 
sake, should induce a wife to attend to the above 
remarks. 

While "some women during pregnancy are very 
restless, others are very sleepy. They can scarce- 
ly even in the day 7 keep their eyes open ! Fresh 
air, exercise, and occupation, are the best rem- 
edies for this. 




CHAPTER V. 

CONSTIPATION. 

Constipation means a sluggish state of the 
bowels, by reason of which the fasces are retained 
for a longer time than is warranted in a state of 
health. The discharges are hard and dry, in small 
quantities, and evacuated with difficulty. This is 
one of the most common disorders to which man- 
kind is subject, and among pregnant women is 
almost universal. 

This subject is one which should engage the 
earnest attention of every woman. The results of 
constipation are far more serious than are gen- 
erally supposed. 

The retained excrement is, to a certain extent, 
absorbed into the system and acts as so much 
poison, to eliminate which the other organs are 
overtaxed, causing debility of the whole system. 
Women who were never of costive habit are liable 
to become so in pregnane)', and those who were 
subject to it before may become so much worse 
now as to be unable to have a healthy evacuation 
without the interference of mechanical or medi- 
cinal means. 

It has been asserted that there is not a disease 
(So) 



EVIL EFFECTS OF CONSTIPATION. 8 1 

of the human system which cannot be traced to 
this one trouble. While this may not be true, the 
evil effects which it produces in pregnancy are too 
well known to need comment, and any suggestions 
or treatment that will alleviate, cure or remove 
the causes, should be eagerly sought and carefully 
followed. In order to understand why consti- 
pation is so constant an attendant upon pregnancy, 
the subject should be carefully studied by the 
patient. 

The nutriment derived from the food is taken 
into the blood from the stomach and small intes- 
tines, while the residuum — comprising the larger 
part of all the food — passes into the large intes- 
tine, called the colon. Beginning on the right 
side of the body just above the pelvis, the colon 
passes upward to the lower border of the ribs, then 
crosses the body and descends on the left side, and 
inward to the spinal column, where it merges into 
the rectum. 

" The bowels possess what is termed peristaltic 
action, that is, each portion alternately relaxes and 
contracts, thus forcing the food through them. 
The passage of the food is more rapid through the 
small intestines than through the colon which, by 
its large size and slow motion, allows the greater 
part of the waste material, or faecal matter, to ac- 
cumulate in it. While this remains in the colon it 
occasions no inconvenience, but as soon as it passes 
into the rectum it causes a desire to evacuate the 
bowels." 



82 CONSTIPATION. 

The time of passage from the colon to the rec- 
tum varies in different individuals — some requir- 
ing two evacuations daily to a perfect state of 
health, others — and the great majority belong to 
this class — require but one, while a third class 
evacuate the bowels but once in two days. In de- 
termining whether the bowels are costive the state 
of the evacuations, as well as the frequency, should 
be taken into consideration. If they are scanty, 
dry, hard, and attended with pain, constipation is 
present, even though the evacuations are of daily 
occurrence. As a rule it may be stated that there 
should be a full, free, soluble and satisfactory 
evacuation of the bowels daily, and not for one 
day, especially in pregnancy, should this rule be 
broken, or constipation allowed. 

Causes. — Sedentary habits, particularly where 
the mind is closely applied to any subject; the con- 
tinued use of laxative medicines ; the habitual 
neglect of the bowels, so common among women ; 
the mechanical pressure which the womb, in its 
enlarged condition, exerts upon the rectum ; errors 
in diet, and especially errors in dress. 

In nearly all forms of constipation there is a lack 
ol contractile power in the colon and the rectum. 
This is due largely to want of proper exercise. 
Many a pregnant woman does not leave the house. 
From the date of conception she is a fixture. Can 
it be wondered that in such cases constipation 
should be the result ? Exercise in the open air, 
occupation and household duties are the best med- 



CAUSES OF CONSTIPATION. 83 

icines known for constipation. Every step taken 
in walking, and every bending or twisting motion 
of the body by jarring and crowding the intestines, 
assists them in their work. Intense mental applica- 
tion should be avoided. Any continued strain up- 
on the nervous organization takes away the nerve 
stimulant, essential to digestion and assimilation. 

In speaking of the effects of exhaustive mental 
occupation, Dr. Jackson says : 

" It is not the man or woman who lives regu- 
larly, eats temperately, and exercises the brain 
moderately, or even severely, if the habits are cor- 
rect, and sufficient outdoor air and exercise are 
had to oxygenize the blood and keep up muscular 
tone ; it is not the muscle-worker, the agriculturist, 
the mechanic, the machinist ; it is not the maid of 
all work, as a general thing ; it is the brain worker 
— the lawyer, merchant, doctor, banker, minister, 
teacher; it is the man who sits in his office or 
works in his store or shop in poor air and light, 
having little or no muscular exercise, who con- 
stantly thinks, is anxious, worried, careworn — a 
victim of the intense competition and excitement 
which modern business life imposes ; it is the wife 
and mother who lives in the house all day, who is 
continually worried by household cares and anxi- 
eties, who is socially taxed and excited ; it is she 
who idles away her time, passing it in indoor in- 
dolence, who dresses unphysiologically, eats badly, 
feeds upon sensational literature, and lives under 
the reign of her emotional and passional nature ; 



84 CONSTIPATION. 

it is the poor factory girl or seamstress plodding 
away through weary days, in stifling air and on 
starvation diet, as of baker's bread and tea, de- 
barred from all outdoor recreation ; or the school- 
teacher, who barely earns her living, though she 
works brain and nerves almost daily to the point 
of exhaustion. In these classes, subject to unphys- 
iological habits of work, want of recreation, unfa- 
vorable surroundings, irregularity in eating, sleep- 
ing, etc. — more from lack of knowledge than from 
necessity — are found the victims." 

Laxative medicines should always be avoided 
when possible. Sometimes it becomes necessary 
to give a purgative, but when this is the case the 
mildest should be chosen. Strong purgatives are 
highly improper, and often very dangerous. Es- 
pecialty is this the case where the patient is liable 
to miscarry. 

" Cathartic drugs all depend for effect upon a 
certain quality they possess of exciting secretion 
and peristaltic activity. Of course they do this 
through the nervous system, few, if any, of them 
being mechanical in their action, but accomplish- 
ing their results by stimulating the nervous system 
to extra effort. In doing this the}' necessarily ex- 
haust the source of supply, for the tendency of all 
stimulation is to induce exhaustion, as the conse- 
quence of unnatural exhibitions of nervous force. 
Persons using these so-called remedies — laxatives, 
cathartics and purgatives — thus securing the move- 
ments of the bowels in the present, find that after 



HABITUAL NEGLECT. 85 

their use it is more difficult to secure natural pas- 
sages, and that the doses must be increased to pro- 
duce any effect. Meantime the continued use of 
these drugs not only exhausts nervous force, but 
often creates inflammation of mucous surfaces, dis- 
turbing digestion and poisoning the blood." 

Habitual neglect of the bowels is one of the most 
frequent causes of constipation. The rectum is 
naturally empty. As soon as the fasces are dis- 
charged into it there is usually a desire to relieve 
the bowels. If this is not done at once or if neg- 
lected for a short time the faeces are carried up- 
ward by peristaltic motion and back into the colon. 
The desire for evacuation thus passes away. This 
abuse long continued causes the bowels to become 
clogged up, they lose their contractile power, the 
sensibility is destroyed, and in time the natural 
desire to relieve them will not be felt. This allows 
an accumulation which distends the rectum and 
even the colon far beyond their natural capacity. 
The rectum in its enlarged condition presses 
against the womb, causing debility and almost cer- 
tain disease of that organ. To this cause, too, may 
be attributed much of the nausea accompanying 
pregnancy. Piles follow as a necessary conse- 
quence of pressure on the hemorrhoidal veins. 
Bearing-down pains, pains in the back, flatulence, 
colic, swelling of the veins of the legs, headache, 
sleeplessness, miscarriage and many other diseases 
are the result of over distension of the bowels. 
Among women this habit of neglect is almost uni- 



86 CONSTIPATION. 

versal. An evacuation of the bowels is looked 
upon as an onerous duty, avoided as long as pos- 
sible, then performed in a hurried and imperfect 
manner. Women who are occupied in stores, 
offices or factories, where they are surrounded by 
men, often, through a sense of false modesty, fail 
to heed the demands of nature. The retention of 
the urine beyond the time when it should be voided 
is a serious evil. Continued distension causes the 
walls of the bladder to relax and to lose their 
elasticity. In its enlarged state the bladder presses 
against the womb in much the same manner as the 
over-distended rectum, and usually with the same 
evil result. The sensitive womb, placed as it is 
between the rectum and the bladder, is peculiarly 
liable to suffer from want of attention to either of 
these organs. The inconvenient, repulsive and 
often dangerous closet accommodations, usually 
provided in the country and smaller towns, tends 
to increase the natural aversion to promptly heed 
the demands of nature. This is usually placed 
some distance from the house, and constructed so 
openly as to expose the inmates to the rain in sum- 
mer and snow and ice in winter. During- the 
monthly period such exposure is exceedingly 
dangerous and it is little wonder that the sensitive 
or invalid woman dreads the ordeal and defers the 
same as long as possible. Earth closets should be 
constructed to take the place of the noisome ac 
commodations now so common. These can be 
made at a trifling cost, and will answer the pur- 



EARTH CLOSETS. 87 

pose where the more modern and expensive form 
cannot be secured. The outhouse may be built 
close against the dwelling, or a convenient corner 
in a warm woodshed may be utilized for this pur- 
pose. Beneath the seat, a large galvanized pail 
should be placed, the bottom of which should be 
well covered with fine ashes or dry dirt. After 
using the closet, a supply of ashes or dirt — which 
may be kept in a convenient place and handled by 
means of a small shovel — should be added to the 
contents of the pail. The latter should be emptied 
and thoroughly cleansed daily. When these di- 
rections are carried out, such a closet may be 
placed near or even in a house with perfect 
safety. 

Among delicate women the pregnant womb is 
often a cause of constipation. At the same time to 
constipation is due many of the serious disorders 
of the womb. This will be readily understood 
when it is seen that the enlarging womb — espe- 
cially in cases of retroflection — presses against the 
rectum, causing a collapse of that organ and thus 
preventing the escape of the faecal matter. The 
result is that the weight of the matter thus accu- 
mulated presses upon the womb and tends to drag 
it down. In such cases all straining at stool has 
the same tendency, and should be carefully 
avoided. 

The quality and quantity of the food taken has 
much to do with a healthy state of the bowels. 
They may become inactive from the use of very 



88 CONSTIPATION. 

nutritious food. The concentrated forms of food, 
such as meat and the various preparations of fine 
flour, which have little waste but go almost en- 
tirely to the blood, give the bowels but little to do 
and they become constipated from want of use. 
Hot biscuits, rolls, pancakes, and muffins are not 
healthful and should not be eaten. Cakes, condi- 
ments, rich pies and all confections are too con- 
centrated. Fat meats, dried and salt meats, veal, 
geese and ducks, and other gross meats are 
constipating. 

In a previous chapter I have referred to the 
pernicious effects of fashionable dress upon the 
generative organs. This is also one of the serious 
causes of constipation. Not only is this caused by 
lacing and by suspending the clothing around the 
waist, but by the inequalities of the clothing worn. 
The dress of the lower portion of the body is 
much less in proportion than that of the upper 
half, and the putting on of an extra skirt does 
little to increase the warmth. The cold air must 
necessarily get under the skirts, and the warmer 
the body the quicker the air will rush up. In this 
way the temperature of the body from the waist 
down is kept several degrees lower than from the 
waist up. Every one knows that cold contracts 
the skin, veins and arteries, and propels the blood 
from the surface. Put your hand in ice water for 
a few moments and you will see it shrunk and 
colorless ; the blood has been driven from it. This 
process is going on all the time where the dress is 



EFFECTS OF FASHIONABLE DRESS. 89 

less in one part of the body than in another. In 
the coldest part the circulation becomes slower as 
the blood is driven away. Worse still, the blood 
is driven to other parts of the body where it is not 
wanted, where it clogs up and causes passive 
congestion. The bowels, like the stomach, have 
their function to perform in digestion; they require 
the same amount of 'animal heat, they also require 
unobstructed circulation. To expose the surface 
of the abdomen, causes great evaporation of needed 
heat; the digestion, robbed of its heat, its operation 
interfered with, becomes gradually slower, all its 
functions slower and delayed, the consequence is 
serious, and constipation is the result. The reason 
why men are not so constipated as women is 
largely due to the fact that their dress keeps the 
whole of the body of an equal temperature, and the 
circulation unimpeded. 

Treatment. — It will readily be seen from the 
preceding that the treatment should be one of pre- 
vention rather than of cure. The same means, 
however, that will prevent constipation, if intelli- 
gently carried out, will usually effect a cure. 
Regularity in the habits is one of the most impor- 
tant points of treatment. The first effort should 
be to re-establish the natural habit of the bowels. 
The desire for food recurs at regular hours each 
day because it is customary to eat at certain times. 
In like manner a habit of the body may be estab- 
lished, by which a desire to evacuate the bowels 
will follow at a given hour. It is not to be expected 



90 CONSTIPATION. 

that this result can in all cases be attained in a day, 
a week, or even in a month Obstinate cases of 
constipation require time in which to restore the 
normal function of the rectum, but the end accom- 
plished is worth much more than the effort 
expended. 

" A new habit cannot be formed or an old one 
altered, without persevering- effort in the right 
direction. The patient who is earnest in the search 
for health, should be encouraged to persevere for 
months in going to the water-closet without fail, 
once every day, at a certain hour, as regularly as 
the clock points to it. This is indispensable to a 
correction of the bad habit of constipation. A 
very effectual part of this regular endeavor is to 
cause the mind to dwell upon the necessity of an 
evacuation and the process itself, for at least half an 
hour before retiring to the proper place. It is not 
a difficult matter with many persons to create a 
desire in this way. Let no consideration of con- 
venience enter into this punctual effort at stool. 
Once in the proper place the position should bean 
easy one, no inconvenient strain upon any muscle 
should be allowed, and the patient should be 
possessed with an entire sense of leisure, to per- 
form the act completely. The value of all these 
considerations, where faithfully followed, is incal- 
culable, and very few cases can long resist them. 
Without them medicine will only temporarily 
relieve, instead of permanentlv curing, obstinate 
cases. Another matter of great importance, when 



TREATMENT. 9 1 

an effort is made to have an evacuation, is to have 
the abdomen distended with food. The .patient 
should eat plentifully of vegetable diet, such as is 
by its bulk calculated to produce fullness. If the 
patient goes to the water-closet with a sense of full- 
ness of the abdomen, success will be much more 
likely to follow. Should the regular time for mak- 
ing an effort be soon after breakfast, which is un- 
doubtedly the best time, and the meal has not been 
sufficient to produce a sense of moderate disten- 
sion, a full glass of water will complete that condi- 
tion. The various kinds of fruits may be used for 
this purpose, such as ripe, mellow apples, without 
being divested of the rind, prunes, figs, the different 
kinds of berries, and tamarinds. The acids of 
these fruits increase the secretions of the intestines, 
while the rind and seeds, beside distending the 
bowels, increase their peristaltic action. Very 
acid fruits, as lemons and oranges, produce their 
effect only on account of the acids which they con- 
tain. They are excellent in the case of patients 
whose stools are dry, hard and lumpy." 

The above treatment cannot be too faithfully 
followed. The character of the food, as has been 
stated, exerts much influence upon the action of 
the bowels. I would recommend the patient to 
eat freely of fruits of all kinds. Make fruit a part 
of the everyday bill of fare, eat it in abundance, 
and constipation will usually vanish with no 
other treatment. It is also important that the food 
eaten should be bulky in its nature. The stomach 



92 CONSTIPATION. 

and intestines are like rubber and contract on them- 
selves. The stomach is full whether little or much 
food has been taken, and the same is true of the in- 
testines. If the food is too concentrated, it is 
largely absorbed and there is not enough remain- 
ing to require a vigorous action of the bowels. 
The residue is also compact, dry and hard. A diet 
composed largely of fruits and vegetables seems to 
meet the wants of those of costive habits. Such 
food contains enough nutriment to support the 
body in health, and at the same time contains 
enough liquid to keep the residue in a soluble 
state. Among the fruits, peaches, plums, prunes, 
muscatel raisins, figs, grapes, pears, apples and the 
small fruits of all kinds are to be recommended. 
They should be well cooked and eaten at meal 
time, or if sound and ripe they may be eaten raw. 
Of vegetables, turnips, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, 
asparagus, lettuce, rhubarb, green corn and cauli- 
flower may especially be used to advantage. 

Nothing is so important as the bread that is 
eaten. With many this one item forms a large 
proportion of all the food that is taken. It is im- 
perative then that it should be such as will not 
cause constipation. Bakers' bread should not be 
eaten, as it is almost sure to have an astringent 
effect. The same is true of the bread made from 
the fine white flour in common use. Bread made 
from Graham flour has been highly recommended, 
but on account of its coarseness, is not easily di- 
gested, it is far preferable, however, to white bread 



FOOD AN IMPORTANT ITEM. 93 

When it can be obtained, flour made from the 
entire wheat should be used. In the entire wheat 
flour, the gluten is preserved ; this makes bone and 
muscle, cures constipation, and is much richer in 
flavor than the ordinary white flour. Cake and 
pies made from this flour — if they must be had — 
are much more wholesome. This flour is now 
made in different parts of the country, and can 
usually be easily obtained. Rye and Indian meal 
also make a delicious and wholesome bread. Oat- 
meal and cracked wheat may also be prepared in 
various ways which make them loosening to the 
bowels, and valuable articles of food. 

Regularity in the matter of eating should be 
observed, and the meals must not be taken in a 
hurried manner. If the food is not mixed with 
saliva, but swallowed with tea or coffee to wash it 
down, digestion is retarded. And if the food is 
eaten too rapidly, more is taken than is sufficient 
for nutriment. As a result, indigestion and consti- 
pation follow. No drink should be allowed at 
meals, then the gastric juice acts directly on the 
food and dissolves it much sooner and easier than 
if weakened by drinks. Tea is likely to have an 
astringent effect, while coffee, though laxative in 
its nature, is too stimulating, and the reaction 
causes torpidity. Water should be freely taken 
an hour or two before meals, when the stomach is 
empty. The cells of the stomach will then be filled 
with a sufficient quantity of gastric juice to easilv 
digest the food when taken. A full glass of water 



94 CONSTIPATION. 

taken the first thing each morning will frequently 
keep the bowels in excellent condition, and is so 
simple a remedy that it should be in more uni- 
versal use. 

The use of the wet compress will in many cases 
prove beneficial. A napkin should be doubled sev- 
eral times so as to make a thick compress and at 
the same time large enough to cover the whole of 
the bowels. This should be wrung out of warm 
water, placed upon the abdomen and kept in place 
by a strip of dry flannel cloth. The compress 
should be applied on going to bed, and should be 
worn during the night. 

The enema is another method which may be em- 
ployed to advantage where an immediate action of 
the bowels is desired. A fountain syringe should 
be used and the reservoir suspended as high as the 
tube will permit in order to give the water suffi- 
cient force. The enema should enter the bowels 
slowly and should be retained fifteen or twenty 
minutes. Light massage treatment may follow 
the enema and after this combination treatment a 
free evacuation is almost sure to follow. Where 
inactivity of the rectum is the cause of consti- 
pation, injections of cold or tepid water will give 
tone to that organ and prove of great benefit. Af- 
ter a time, however, the injections lose much of 
their efficiency, and for this reason too much de- 
pendence should not be placed upon them. Should 
it be necessary to continue their use a little salt or 
Castile soap may be added to the water with ad- 



VALUE OF ENEMAS. 95 

vantage. If this is not sufficient, then ten grains 
of ox-gall dissolved in half a pint of tepid water 
and used as an enema will remove large quantities 
of hard, impact fasces. Should it be necessary to 
resort to medicine, a tablespoonful of castor oil 
may be taken and the bowels thus relieved should 
be kept free by the use of hygienic measures rec- 
ommended in this chapter. 

An abundance of exercise will not only prevent 
constipation, but is one of the very best means of 
treating the same. It is preferable that outdoor 
exercise be taken where possible, but special in- 
door exercise may be made to answer the same 
purpose. To some it may seem that such simple 
means can be of little value in treating an ob- 
stinate disease, but simple as these means are, if 
patiently and thoroughly carried out, they cannot 
fail to alleviate, if not completely cure, the most 
obstinate cases. At the same time, they strengthen 
the whole body and thus prepare it to the more 
easily resist all other diseases. Such exercise 
should be taken as tends to strengthen the muscles 
of the abdomen, give tone and vigor to the mus- 
cular tissue of the bowels, and develop the dia- 
phragm and other respiratory organs. Is it not 
reasonable to suppose that if the arm of the black- 
smith becomes strong by exercise, that any of the 
muscles of the body may in like manner be strength- 
ened? Exercise quickens the circulation of the 
blood, the lungs, responding to the rapid flow, re- 
quire a greater amount o( air for oxygenation, and 



g6 CONSTIPATION. 

respiration is quickened to obtain this supply. 
Every full breath taken imparts strong motion to 
the diaphragm, which in turn gives action to the 
contents of the abdomen. Hence the value of full 
and deep breathing and the corresponding neces- 
sity for free, untrammeled dress. An exhaustive 
treatment of this subject may be found in a vol- 
ume by Dr. G. H. Taylor, entitled, " Health by 
Exercise," and from which the following exercises 
have been adapted. Dr. Taylor says: — It is a 
curious and most interesting fact that children 
and young animals, whose desire for motion is 
inherent, are inclined chiefly to those kinds of ex- 
ercise, and to assume those positions that neces- 
sarily affect the abdominal contents. 

It is by such exercises as climbing, rolling, crawling, 
jumping and playing generally that these contents 
are most disturbed. We are convinced that these 
are the means that nature prescribes to secure 
healthful development and power in these most es- 
sential parts of the body. As if to insure these 
healthful effects, nature has ordained that by res- 
piration, as an efficient and constant means, these 
motions shall be secured to the alimentary canal. 
The abdominal contents may be considered as be- 
ing- located between two great muscular organs, 
the diaphragm and abdominal walls. 

These muscles act conjointly and simultaneously 
and upon all the included parts, causing them to 
play incessantly upon each, and subjecting them 
to a constant and gentle pressure. 



EFFECT OF EXERCISE. 97 

One prime effect of exercise is the increase of 
the substance and the contractility of the abdom 
inal muscular coverings. The walls of the ab- 
domen become, in the absence of proper exercise, 
weak, flabby, and unnaturally distended when this 
occurs, the abdominal contents necessarily obey 
the laws of gravity, become dislocated and their 
functions consequently impaired. Well directed 
movements restore the power of these walls, the 
sinking organs are reinstated in their original po- 
sition, and their function is recovered. 

A great variety of motions may be given to one's 
own digestive organs suited to different constitu- 
tions, conditions of disease, development of the 
region, strength of the person, etc. A few 
forms are selected for the reader's attention, which 
if not entirely applicable for a given case, may at 
least prove suggestive of some other that will act 
more to the purpose. 

Position, lying upon a couch, with the shoulders 
raised and the limbs in an easy position. 

Varieties of Action. — Kneading. — The two fists 
strongly clenched may be pressed upon the abdo- 
men so firmly as to cause the subjacent parts to 
yield before the pressure. This action is to be re- 
peated for several minutes over the whole region 
of the abdomen. 

2. Shaking. — The hands are applied to each side 
of the abdomen, and alternate pressure given to it, 
producing a somewhat rapid oscillating movement 
of all the abdominal contents included between the 
two hands. 



98 CONSTIPATION. 

3. Stroking. — Each hand is applied to the regiGn 
of the groin, the tips of the fingers nearly meeting, 
then each hand is to be drawn slowly, with much 
pressure, upward and outward. 

4. Circular Stroking. — The pressure of the hands 
is made to follow the course of the colon, begin- 
ning low upon the right side of the abdomen, pass- 
ing around beneath the stomach, and terminating 
on the side opposite. 

5. Clapping. — The extended hands are made to 
strike any portion of the frontal region of the ab- 
domen. The blows should be given with each 
hand alternately at such a rate of rapidity and 
force as to produce no unpleasant sensations. If 
there is a point where pain is felt, the motion, at 
each successive application, should for a period be 
given to surrounding parts, approaching the tender 
point gradually until the pain disappears. The 
double fist may be used in place of the flat hand 
when it can be borne. 

All the above massage movements may be ap- 
plied in the standing position with the trunk a lit- 
tie bent forward or stooping. 

6. The patient should be seated upon the edge 
of a chair or other convenient seat, the position of 
the thighs at right angles and feet so extended as 
to form a large base. Raise the arms above the 
head and parallel to each other. Now, let the 
body fall slowly forward in a diagonal direction, 
that is, in a line directly over one thigh, bringing 
the breast in close contact with the knee. After 



SPECIAL EXERCISES. 99 

this the body slowly resumes its original position. 
This action may be repeated five or six times on 
each side. If it seems advisable that less effort 
should be expended in this movement, the hands 
may be clasped behind the back instead of raised 
above the head. If more force is desired a light 
pair of dumb bells may be held in the hands, and 
the movement be performed as before. 

7. The position of the body the same as in num- 
ber six, with the exception that it may be neces- 
sary to secure the feet to the floor by placing them 
under some firm object, or they may be held to 
the floor by another person if more convenient. 
The trunk is to be twisted a little toward the knee 
of one side, then allowed to fall slowly backward 
till it reaches a position approximating the hori- 
zontal, where it remains for a few moments. Then 
raise slowly to first position. This action may be 
repeated three or four times w T ith each side. This 
movement calls powerfully into action the mus- 
cles of the abdomen upon either side; it also presses 
the bowels, and has a healthy action upon visceral 
organs. 

8. Position same as in seven. Allow the trunk 
to fall directly and slowly backward till it reaches 
a position nearly horizontal, when it slowly re- 
turns to the commencing position. This action 
may be repeated four or five times. 

9. Kneel upon the floor, supporting the knees 
with a cushion, upon which the knees should be 
placed as far apart as possible. Keep the trunk 



IOO CONSTIPATION. 

perpendicular, and place the hands upon the hips. 
Bend the trunk above the hips as far to one side as 
possible. Allow it to return and pass as far to the 
other side. The motion should be somewhat 
rapid, so that the momentum may be felt upon the 
convex side. This action may be repeated ten or 
twelve times. The movement acts upon muscles 
of either side as well as upon the spleen, liver and 
other organs situated in the region affected by the 
motion as well as upon the abdominal walls and 
viscera. 

10. Seated upon a mattress, with legs extended 
horizontally, the hands should be placed upon the 
head. Bend the trunk slowly as far forward as 
possible. Then return it slowly to its primary 
position. This action may be repeated five or six 
times. The movement elevates the ribs, causes 
the abdominal muscles to contract, and elevates 
the contents of the abdomen. 

ii. The trunk lies in a horizontal position, face 
downward. Lock the arms, and elevate the body 
so that, its weight will rest entirely upon the elbows 
and toes. The trunk may be held in this position 
a greater or less time, according to the strength of 
the patient. The movement may be varied by 
raising and lowering the hips. This movement 
presses the contents of the abdomen toward the 
diaphragm, and often instantly relieves prolapsus 
of any of the pelvic organs, as that of the womb, 
vagina or rectum, restoring the parts to their 
natural condition and relation. Indeed, all other 



GENERAL REMARKS. 101 

medical applications designed to meet the end here 
indicated, bear no comparison to this simple 
movement. By repetition the weak parts are 
strengthened, and a radical cure is effected. 

In closing this chapter I wish to impress upon 
my reader this one fact, that constipation can be 
prevented much easier than it can be cured. Let 
the mother bear this in mind, let her save her child 
from constipation, and she will save her from a 
hundred and one disorders that will render her 
life a life of misery. 




CHAPTER VI. 

DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 



The Creator never intended that pregnancy 
should be a source of disease, but ignorance, false 
modesty, fashion, previously acquired diseases of 
the womb, errors of regimen and diet, a weak con- 
stitution and bad training in girlhood, often lay 
the foundation of serious troubles during preg- 
nancy. 

I consider it necessary to give a brief account 
of such diseases, and to prescribe a few safe and 
simple remedies. I say safe and simple for active 
medicines require skilful handling, and ought not, 
unless in cases of emergency, to be used except by 
the advice of a physician. 

Mental disorders. — Such are, undefined fear of 
pending evil, anxiety about the future, and fear of 
dying, many forebodings and gloom, even to des- 
pair. These disturbances, although they may have 
no cause, are serious in the extreme. It is impor- 
tant to a mother's well being, and to a happy ter- 
mination of her pregnancy, that these illusions 
should be conquered. Serious consequences have 
been produced by an over-wrought imagination. 
This dark phantom that hangs over the reason of 

O02) 



MENTAL DISORDERS. 103 

the already burdened patient should be chased 
away by gentle reasoning and moral suasion. 

To you, husbands, I say, reflect upon the mani- 
fold inconveniences and annoyances that your 
wife must labor under while pregnant. The love 
which you gave her before the altar — double it 
now. Think of the suffering that you are spared 
which she must undergo to give you the delight 
of paternity. In doubling your attentions, in an- 
ticipating her desires, in calming her fears, in sooth- 
ing her irritations, you do only your duty, though 
it should also be your highest pleasure. Do it 
cheerfully ; let your devotion spring from a manly 
heart, from the heart of a true husband. What 
was a molehill to your wife before must be a 
mountain now. Smooth her rugged path, shade 
her from the burning flame of mental agitation, en- 
courage her, inspire her with hope, and when the 
time comes that she lies prostrated, her face beam- 
ing with happiness at the sound of her first-born, 
thank God that you have been kind to her. 

The hygiene in these cases is purely a moral one, 
and must be conducted by a careful and loving 
husband, and affectionate relatives or friends. 
When forebodings and gloom pervade the mind 
of her who is to become a mother, reasoning may 
be in vain. In this case, her condition should not 
be totally ignored, lest offence be given, but un- 
knowingly to her, and apparently unaffected by 
her fears, simple means may be employed to throw 
her off the gloomy path of her thoughts. The 



104 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

wife's tastes and predilections when in health 
being known, there are a hundred things that can 
be done to attract her from her sorrow of self into 
innocent distractions and pleasures. This must 
be done without an effort or apparent purpose, 
else the object may be defeated by making her 
aware that care and kindness are induced by solic- 
itude. Bring home a good book, a favorite fruit, 
or a mutual friend, with whom you may enter into 
an innocent conspiracy for her good. Invite her 
to take a walk, and then do not rush her through 
an unfeeling crowd, but walk leisurely in a favorite 
place, call her attention to objects of interest, and 
even to trifles that may have amused her be- 
fore. Have some congenial friends at home, a 
game of whist, or any sort of innocent game and 
moderate gaiety, a little surprise party of dropping- 
in friends — some genial, happy faces. If it is nec- 
essary, an innocent plot with your friends may be 
formed to get her out some evening to a social 
meeting, a lecture, a concert, or a lively, pleasing 
drama. If the rooms or halls are too hot or 
crowded, you may show solicitude enough to take 
her home. Cheerful fireside, unstinted sacrifices, 
loving sympathy, will rob the mind of many a dark 
shadow. Change of scene, short, easy journeys 
to favorite cities or spots, is a source of pleasant 
and healthy excitement that will invigorate body 
and mind. Be never weary, and success and hap- 
piness will crown your noble efforts. 

Muscular pains of the abdomen.— -The best rem- 



MUSCULAR PAINS OF THE ABDOMEN. 105 

edy is an abdominal belt, constructed for preg- 
nancy, and adjusted to fit the abdomen. It is 
made with straps and buckles to accommodate the 
gradually increasing size of the abdomen. This 
plan often affords great comfort and relief ; indeed, 
in some severe cases, such belts are indispensable. 
Diarrhoea. — Although the bowels in pregnancy 
are generally costive, they are sometimes in an op- 
posite state, and are relaxed. This relaxation is 
frequently due to continual constipation, and nature 
is trying to relieve itself by purging. Such being 
the case, a patient ought to be careful of astringents 
as they interfere with relaxation. Sometimes 
nature succeeds ; at other times it is advisable to 
give a mild aperient, such as castor oil, tincture of 
rhubarb, or rhubarb and magnesia. If castor oil, 
a teaspoonful swimming on a little new milk, will 
generally answer the purpose. If tincture of rhu- 
barb, a tablespoonful in two of water. If rhubarb 
and magnesia are selected, then a few doses of the 
following mixture will usually set all to rights: — 

Take of — Powdered Turkey Rhubarb, half a dram ; 
Carbonate of Magnesia, one dram ; 
Essence of Ginger, one dram ; 
Compound Tincture of Cardamons, half an ounce ; 
Peppermint Water, five ounces and a half ; 
Two tablespoonfuls of the mixture to be taken three times a day, 
first shaking the bottle. 

The diet should be simple, plain and nourishing, 
and should consist of beef tea, of chicken broth, of 
arrowroot, and of well-made and well-boiled oat- 
meal gruel. Meat ought not to be eaten; and 
stimulants of all kinds must be avoided. 



I06 . DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

If the diarrhoea is attended with pain in the 
bowels, a flannel bag filled with hot table salt, and 
applied to the part affected, will afford great relief. 
A hot water bag, in a case of this kind, is a 
great comfort.* The patient should, as soon as 
the diarrhoea has disappeared, gradually return to 
her usual diet, which ought to be plain, whole- 
some and nourishing. She should pay particular 
attention to keeping her feet warm and dry ; and, 
if subject to diarrhoea, she should wear around her 
bowels, and next the skin, a broad flannel band. 

Sleeplessness. — Pregnant women of nervous tem- 
perament are often kept awake night after night 
without apparent cause. This is produced by the 
slightest mental excitement, or by the motions of 
the child ; again by eating or indulging in a cup of 
tea or coffee before retiring. 

Close confinement to one's room and want of 
exercise may also be the cause. This may be borne 
without inconvenience, in case the patient gets 
some few hours of sleep, and awakes refreshed in 
the morning. But in some instances the patient 
suffers severely ; does not sleep a minute ; becomes 
feverish, restless and agitated ; she loses her appe- 



* The hot water bag, or bottle, as it is sometimes called, is com- 
posed of vulcanized India-rubber, and is made purposely to hold very 
hot water. The bag ought not to be more than half filled with water, 
as it will then better adapt itself to the shape of the bowels. The 
water must be hot but not boiling ; if it should be very hot the bag 
ought to be wrapped in flannel. It .is a most delightful stomach 
warmer and comforter and should, where there is a family, be in 
every house. One great advantage of it is, that in a few minutes it 
is ready for use. 



SLEEPLESSNESS — TREATMENT. 107 

tite, and becomes weak and prostrated, her mind 
begins to suffer, and she becomes fretful, whim- 
sical, and even irrational. 

The treatment consists in sleeping in a well-ven- 
tilated apartment, on a hair mattress, taking care that 
the bed is not overloaded with clothes ; a thor- 
ough bath every morning, and a good washing 
with cold water of face, neck, chest, arms and 
hands every night ; shunning hot and close rooms ; 
taking plenty of outdoor exercise ; living on a 
bland, nourishing, but not rich diet ; avoiding 
meat suppers, and substituting, in lieu thereof, 
either a cupful of arrowroot, made with milk, or 
of well-boiled oatmeal gruel; avoiding stimulants 
of all kinds ; drinking morning and evening black 
tea, instead of coffee ; and taking a dose of the fol- 
lowing drops in water as prescribed below : 

Compound Spirits of Lavender, one dram ; 
Aromatic Spirits of Ammonia, eleven drams ; 

A teaspoonful of the drops to be taken every night at bedtime, and 
repeated in the middle of the night, if necessary, — in a wine-glass of 
water. 

An attack of the fidgets during the night ma) 7 
be relieved by taking a short walk up and down 
the room ; drinking half a glass of cold water ; 
emptying the bladder and turning the pillow, so as 
to have the cold side next the head, and then lie 
down again. The chances are that the patient will 
now fall asleep. 

During the day a ride in an open carriage ; a 
stroll in the garden, or in the field ; or a little 



Io8 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

housewifery, will do her good. There is nothing 
like fresh air, exercise, and occupation, to drive 
away the fidgets. It is generally those that have 
nothing to do who are thus affected. The poor 
woman who has to work for her daily bread does 
not know what the fidgets mean. Here again we 
see the value of occupation — of having plenty to 
do ! Idleness is criminal, and deserves punish- 
ment. It assuredly is, and always will be pun- 
ished ! 

Heartburn is a common and often a distressing 
symptom of pregnancy. The acid producing the 
heartburn is frequently much increased by an over- 
loaded stomach. The patient labors under the 
mistaken notion that, as she has two to sustain, she 
requires more food during this than any other 
time ; she consequently is induced to take more 
than her appetite demands, and more than her 
stomach can digest ; hence heartburn, indigestion, 
etc., are caused, and her unborn babe, as well as 
herself, is thereby weakened. 

A wholesome diet ought to be strictly observed. 
Great attention should be paid to the quality of the 
food; greens, pastry, hot-buttered toast, melted 
butter, and everything that is rich and gross, 
should be carefully avoided. 

Either a teaspoonful of heavy calcined magnesia, 
or half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda — the 
former to be preferred if there is constipation — 
should occasionally be taken in a wine-glass of 
warm water. If these do not relieve — the above 



HEARTBURN —TREATMENT. IO9 

directions as to diet having been strictly attended 
to — the following mixture should be tried : 

Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia, half a dram; 
Bicarbonate of Soda, a dram and a half; 
Water, eight ounces. 
To make a mixture. — Two tablespoonfuls to be taken twice cr 
three times a day, until relief is obtained. 

Chalk is sometimes given in heartburn, but as it 
produces constipation, it ought not to be used. 

If constipation accompanies heartburn, the 
heavy calcined magnesia should, as above recom- 
mended, be taken in place of either carbonate of 
soda or the above mixture; the dose being a tea- 
spoonful mixed in a wine-glass of water. The 
heavy calcined magnesia is preferable to the light 
carbonate of magnesia, — it mixes smoother and 
better in water, and is therefore more pleasant to 
take ; it is also stronger—twice as strong as the 
light carbonate of magnesia ; it not only relieves 
the heartburn, but acts gently and pleasantly on 
the bowels. 

Water-brash. — The patient, in early pregnancy, 
oft-times suffers from water-brash; indeed, it 
sometimes accompanies heartburn and morning 
sickness, and when it does, is very distressing. 
Water-brash consists of a constant eructation of a 
thin watery fluid into the mouth — sometimes in 
very large quantities. The fluid is generally as 
thin and clear as pure water — in fact, having very 
much the appearance of water. Occasionally it is 
acid ; at other times, it is perfectly tasteless. This 



1 10 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

water-brash frequently disappears after the patient 
has quickened ; at other times, it continues during 
the whole period of pregnancy, more especially if 
the patient is dyspeptic. The best remedies for 
water-brash are charcoal biscuits — one should be 
eaten at any time the patient is suffering from the 
flow of water. If the fluid of the water-brash is acid, 
then the mixture recommended for heartburn will 
be found very serviceable, and should be taken 
three times a day. A charcoal biscuit should be 
eaten between times. Water acidulated with a 
drop or two of nitric or sulphuric acid, or with 
the juice of a lemon has also been found very 
useful. 

Wind in the stomach and bowels is a frequent rea- 
son why a pregnant woman cannot sleep at night. 
The two most frequent causes of flatulence are 
the want of walking exercise during the day, and 
the eating of a hearty supper just before going to 
bed. The remedies are, in each instance, self-evi- 
dent. It is folly in either case to give medicines, 
when avoidance of the cause is the only right and 
proper remedy. How much physic might be dis- 
pensed with if people would only take nature and 
common sense for their guides ; but no, they would 
rather take a pill — it is less trouble ! — than walk a 
mile; they would prefer a hearty meat supper to 
sweet and refreshing sleep ! What extraordinary 
tastes some persons have ! Luxury and self-in- 
dulgence are, alas ! the crying evils of the day. 

Piles are a common attendant upon pregnancy. 



PILES — TREATMENT. 1 1 1 

They are small, soft, spongy, dark-red tumors — 
enlarged veins — about the size either of a bean or 
of a cherry — sometimes as large as a walnut — and 
are either within or around the fundament. They 
are, according to their situation, called either in- 
ternal or external piles. They may be either blind 
or bleeding. If the latter, blood may be seen ex- 
uding from them, and will come away every time 
the patient has a stool. For this reason the patient 
ought to be as quick as possible in relieving the 
bowels, and should not at such times sit one mo- 
ment longer than is absolutely necessary. 

When the piles are very large, they sometimes, 
more especially during a motion, drag down a 
portion of the bowel which adds much to the suf- 
fering. If the bowel should protrude, it ought, by 
means of the index-finger, to be immediately and 
carefully returned, taking care, in order that it 
may not scratch the bowel, that the nail is cut 
closely. 

Piles are very painful and are exceedingly sore, 
and cause great annoyance. 

A patient is predisposed to piles from the womb 
pressing upon the bloodvessels of the fundament. 
They are excited into action by neglecting to keep 
the bowels gently opened, or by diarrhoea, or from 
taking too strong purgatives, especially pills con- 
taining aloes or colocynth. 

If the piles are inflamed and painful, they 
ought, by means of a sponge, to be well fomented 
three times a day, and for half an hour each time, 



112 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY, 

with hot camomile and poppy-head tea ;* and at 
bedtime a hot white-bread poultice should be 
applied. 

Every time after and before the patient has a 
motion, it is well to anoint the piles and the fun- 
dament with the following ointment : 

Camphor (powdered by means of a few drops of Spirits of 

Wine) one dram ; 
Prepared Lard, two ounces ; 
Mix to make an ointment. 

If there is great irritation and intense pain, let 
some very hot water be put into a close stool, and 
let the patient sit over it. In piles attended with 
great irritation and pain, much relief is often ob- 
tained by sitting over the steam of hot water for 
fifteen or twenty minutes, and immediately apply- 
ing a warm bread and milk poultice. These meas- 
ures should be repeated five or six times a day. 

If the heat is not great, and the pain not in- 
tense, the following ointment will be found effica- 
cious: 

Powdered Opium, one scruple; 

Cumphor (powdered by means of a few drops of Spirits of 

Wine), half a dram; 
Powdered Galls, one dram; 
Spermaceti Ointment, three drams: 
Mix. — The ointment to be applied to the piles three times a day. 



*Take four poppy-heads and four ounces of camomile blows, and 
boil them in four pints of water for half an hour, to make the fomen- 
tation, which should then be strained, and made quite hot in a sauce- 
pan when required. 



PILES— TREATMENT. 1 1 3 

If the heat and pain are great, the following 
liniment will be found useful : 

French Brandy, / . , , ,. 

_, . > 01 each halt an ounce. 

Glycerine, \ 

Mix. — The liniment to be frequently applied, by means of a camel's 
hair pencil, to the piles, first shaking the bottle. 

The bowels ought to be kept gently and regu- 
larly opened. 

An electuary, composed of chopped figs, raisins, 
and senna, in a case of piles, is another admirable 
remedy for opening the bowels ; it softens the 
motions, and is gentle in its operation, and is, more- 
over, agreeable to take. A piece the size of a 
nutmeg, or more, may be eaten every morning. 

Take of best Alexandria Senna, powdered, 1 ounce. 
" Figs, - - - - 2 " 
" Raisins (stoned), - 2 " 

All chopped very fine. The size of a nutmeg, or two, to be eaten 
either early in the morning or at bedtime. 

Magnesia and milk of sulphur is an excellent 
remedy for the piles : — 

Carbonate of Magnesia, 



- 



~. each three drams. 
Milk of Sulphur, 

Mix. — To make nine powders. One to be taken early every or 
every other morning, mixed in half a cupful of milk. 

Remember, in these cases, it is necessary to 
keep the motions in a softened state, as hard lumps 
of stool would, in passing, give intense pain. 

In piles, if they are not much inflamed, and 
there is constipation, a pint of tepid water, admin- 
istered early every morning as an enema, will be 



114 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

found serviceable. Care and gentleness ought to 
be observed in introducing the enema-pipe, in 
order not to press unduly on the surrounding 
piles. 

The patient ought to lie down frequently in the 
day. She will derive great comfort from sitting 
on an air-cushion placed on the chair. 

In piles, the' patient ought to live on a plain, 
nourishing, simple diet, but should avoid all stimu- 
lants ; any food or beverage that will inflame the 
blood will likewise inflame the piles. 

Piles in pregnancy are frequently troublesome, 
and sometimes resist all treatment until the patient 
is confined, when they generally get well of them- 
selves, but still the remedies recommended above 
will, even if they do not effect a cure, usually afford 
great relief. 

Swollen legs from enlarged veins {varicose veins.) 
— The veins are frequently much enlarged and dis- 
tended, causing the limbs.to be greatly swollen and 
very painful, preventing the patient from taking 
proper walking exercise. Swollen legs are owing 
to the pressure of the womb upon the bloodvessels 
above. Women who have had large families are 
more liable than others to varicose veins. If a 
woman is married late in life, or if very heavy 
in pregnancy — carrying the child low down — she 
is more likely to have the veins so distend. 

The best plan will be to wear an elastic silk 
stocking, which ought to be made for her, in order 
that it may properly fit the leg and foot. It will 



VARICOSE VEINS — TREATMENT. 1 1 5 

draw on like a common stocking. She ought to 
wear a gauze stocking next to the skin, and the 
elastic stocking over it, as the gauze stocking can 
then, from time to time, be washed. The gauze 
stocking will also be more comfortable next the 
skin. 

If the varicose veins should become more pain- 
ful, it would be well to call a physician, as it may 
be necessary to have them enveloped in mild plas- 
ters, and then rolled. 

If the feet and limbs are cold as well as swollen, 
a domett e bandage, two inches and a half wide and 
eight yards long, nicely applied to each leg, from 
the toes to the knee, will be found a great comfort. 
One great advantage that domette has over calico 
is, that it will keep in its place for days, whiie 
calico will be loose in an hour or two. 

Stretcliing of the skin of the abdomen is frequent- 
ly, especially in a first pregnancy, distressing, from 
the soreness it causes. The best remedy is to rub 
the bowels, every night and morning, with warm 
camphorated oil, and to apply a broad flannel belt, 
which should be put on moderately but comfort- 
ably tight. The belt ought to be secured in its 
place by means of properly adjusted tapes. 

If the skill of the abdomen, from the violent 
stretching, should be cracked, the patient had bet- 
ter dress the part affected, every night and morn- 
ing, with equal parts of simple cerate and of lard ; 
a lard without salt — well mixed together, spread 
on lint ; which ought to be kept in its place by 



Il6 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

means of a broad bandage, similar to the one used 
in confinements, and which is described in a sub- 
sequent paragraph {Bandage after confinements^) 

Pendulous abdomen. — A lady sometimes, from 
being at these times unusually large, suffers se- 
verely; so much so, that she cannot, without experi- 
encing great inconvenience, move about. This, 
where a patient is stout, and where she has had a 
large family of children, is more likely to occur, 
and especially if she has neglected proper ban- 
daging after her previous confinements. 

She ought, in such a case, to procure an elastic 
abdominal belt, which will, without undue press- 
ing on the abdomen, be a support. It is a good 
plan to have the belt made either to lace behind or 
with straps and buckles, in order to accommodate 
the abdomen to its gradually increasing size. 

If the patient is delicate, and has a languid cir- 
culation, she ought, instead of the elastic belt, to 
apply a broad flannel band, which should go twice 
around the bowels, and must be put on moderately 
and comfortably tight. 

The patient, before the approach of labor, ought to 
take particular care to have the bowels gently 
opened, as during that time a costive state greatly 
increases her sufferings, and lengthens the period 
of labor. I say a gentle action is all that is neces- 
sary ; a violent one would do more harm than good. 

Toothache is a frequent complaint of pregnancy. 
I wish to caution my reader against having a 
tooth extracted while pregnant. Miscarriage or 



TOOTHACHE — TREATMENT. II? 

premature labor has frequently followed the 
extraction of a tooth. It is necessary that this 
advice should be borne in mind, as the pain is some- 
times so excruciating as to cause the sufferer to 
seek, at all hazards, speedy relief by extraction. 
Toothache is both worrying and wearying, and is, 
to all sufferers, very trying to the patience. 

If the tooth is decayed, the hollow ought to be 
filled with cotton wool, soaked either in oil of 
cloves, or in equal parts of oil of cloves and of 
chloroform, and should be frequently renewed. 
Another excellent remedy is a little alum dissolved 
in chloroform.* Another excellent remedy is the 
face bag. This filled with hot water, will often 
afford immediate relief, when all other remedies 
fail. A bit of cotton wool placed in the ear of the 
affected side, will oftentimes relieve the toothache 
arising from a decayed tooth. This simple remedy 
ought always to be tried before resorting to more 
active treatment. If the above remedies do not 
relieve, soak a small ball of cotton wool in chloro- 
form, and insert in the ear, and let it remain until the 
pain is relieved ; let it be renewed from time to time. 
I have frequently found the above plan in tooth- 
ache most efficacious, and to afford relief when 
other means have failed. 

Creasote (spirits of tar) is sometimes applied, 
but of all remedies it is the worst for the purpose. 
I have known it, when thus used, to severely injure 
and decay the whole of the remaining teeth ; one 

*Ten grains of powdered alum to half an ounce of chloroform. 



Il8 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

case in particular I remember, of a gentleman who 
by the frequent use of creasote, for the relief of 
toothache, lost the whole of his teeth ! Not only 
so, but creasote applied to a tooth, has been known 
to cause death. The state of the bowels ought 
always to be attended to, as toothache is frequently 
caused by constipation. 

Morning sickness. — It is said to be " morning," 
as in these cases, unless the stomach is disordered, 
it seldom occurs during any other part of the day. 
Morning sickness may be distinguished from the 
sickness of a disordered stomach by the former 
occurring only early in the morning, on the first 
sitting up in bed, the patient, during the remainder 
of the day, feeling quite free from sickness, and 
generally being able to eat and relish her food, as 
though nothing ailed her. 

Morning sickness begins early in the morning, 
with a sensation of nausea, and as soon as she rises 
from bed she feels sick and retches ; and sometimes, 
but not always, vomits a little sour, watery, glairy, 
fluid ; and occasionally, if she has eaten heartily at 
supper the night before, the contents of the stom- 
ach are ejected. She then feels all right again, 
and is usually ready for her breakfast, which she 
eats with her usual relish. Many women have 
better appetites during pregnancy than at any 
other period of their lives. 

The sickness of a disordered stomach unaccom- 
panied with pregnancy may be distinguished from 
morning sickness by the former continuing during 



MORNING SICKNESS — TREATMENT. I IQ 

the whole day, by the appetite remaining bad after 
the morning has passed, by a disagreeable taste in 
the mouth, and by the tongue being generally 
coated. In such cases there is usually much flatu- 
lence. The patient not only feels, but looks, 
bilious. 

If the stomach is disordered during pregnancy, 
there will be a complication of the symptoms, and 
the morning sickness may become both day and 
night sickness. Proper means should then be em- 
ployed to rectify the disordered stomach, and the 
patient will soon have only the morning sickness 
to contend against; which latter, after she has 
quickened, will generally leave of its own accord. 

Morning sickness is frequently a distressing, 
although not a dangerous complaint. It is only 
distressing while it lasts, for after the stomach is 
unloaded, the appetite generally returns, and the 
patient usually feels, until the next morning, quite 
well again, when she has to go through the same 
process as before. It occurs both in the early and 
the latter months of pregnancy ; more especially 
during the former, up to the period of quickening, 
at which time it usually ceases. Morning sickness 
is frequently the first harbinger of pregnancy, and 
is looked upon by many who have had children as 
a sure and certain sign. Morning sickness does 
not always occur in pregnancy ; some women, at 
such times, are never sick. 

A good way to relieve it is by taking, before ris- 
ing in the morning, a cup of strong coffee. If this 



120 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

should not have the desired effect, she ought to try 
an effervescing draught : 

Take of — Bicarbonate of Potash, one dram and a half ; 
Water, eight ounces : 
Two tablespoonfuls of this mixture to be taken with one of lemon 
juice even r hour, whilst effervescing, until relief is obtained. 

Sometimes the patient had better drink plenti- 
fully of warm water, in order to encourage free 
vomiting. Such a plan is advisable when the 
morning sickness is obstinate, and when the treat- 
ment recommended above has failed to afford 
relief. 

The morning sickness, during the early months, 
is caused by sympathy between the stomach and 
the womb ; and during the latter months by press- 
ure of the upper part of the womb against the 
stomach. As we cannot remove the sympathy 
and the pressure, we cannot always relieve the 
sickness ; the patient is sometimes obliged to bear 
with the annoyance. The bowels ought to be kept 
well regulated. 

Great attention should be paid to the diet; it 
should be moderate in quantity, and simple in 
quality. Rich dishes, highly seasoned soups, and 
melted butter, must be avoided. Hearty meat 
suppers ought not on any account to be allowed. 
If anything is taken at night, there is nothing bet- 
ter than either a teacupful of nicely made and 
well-boiled oatmeal gruel, or of arrowroot. Either 
of the above may be made with water, or with 
new milk, or with cream and water. 



SOME OLD SAYINGS. 121 

It is an old saying, and I believe, as a rule, a 
true one, " that sick pregnancies are safe," more 
"especially if the sickness leaves, which it generally 
does, after quickening. The above remarks do 
not include obstinate, inveterate vomiting, oc- 
casionally occurring in the latter period of preg- 
nancy, and which not only takes place in the 
morning, but during the whole of the day and of 
the night, and for weeks together, sometimes 
bringing a patient to the brink of the grave. Such 
a case, fortunately, is extremely rare. Another 
old and generally true saying is, " that women who 
have sick pregnancies seldom miscarry." There is 
another consolation for those who suffer from 
morning sickness, Irom heartburn, and the numer- 
ous other discomforts of pregnancy, namely, they 
frequently have kinder labors, more lively chil- 
dren, and more comfortable recoveries than those 
who, at such times, do not suffer at all. Compen- 
sation here, as in almost everything else in this 
world, is found to prevail. 

Means to harden the nipples. — A mother some- 
times suffers severely from sore nipples. Espe- 
cially is this true with the first child. Such 
suffering may frequently be prevented, if, for six 
weeks or two months before confinement, the nip- 
ples are bathed for five minutes every night and 
morning, either with eau de Cologne, or with equal 
parts of brandy and water. The better plan will 
be to have the brandy and water in a small bottle 
ready for use, and putting a little each time in a 



122 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

teacup, using it fresh. A soft piece of fine old 
linen mull should be used for the purpose of 
bathing. All pressure ought to be taken from the 
nipples. If the stays unduly press them, either let 
them be- enlarged or, better still, entirely removed. 
The nipples themselves ought to be covered with 
soft linen, as the friction of a flannel vest would be 
apt to irritate them. Let me recommend every 
pregnant lady, more especially in a first pregnancy, to 
adopt either one or the other of the above plans to 
harden the nipples. It may avert much misery, as 
sore nipples are painful and distressing. Pre- 
vention at all times is better than cure. 

The breasts are, at times, during pregnancy, 
much swollen and very painful; and occasionally 
cause the patient great uneasiness. She fancies 
that she is going to have either a tumor or a gath- 
ering of the breast. There need, in such cases, be 
no apprehension. The swelling and the pain are 
the consequence of pregnancy, and will, in due 
time, subside without any unpleasant result. The 
fact is, great changes are taking place in the breasts; 
they are developing and are preparing for the im- 
portant functions they will soon have to perform. 

Treatment. — Every night and morning rub them 
well with equal parts of eau de Cologne and of olive 
oil, and wear a piece of new flannel over them, 
taking care to cover the nipples with soft linen. 
The liniment encourages a little milky fluid to ooze 
out of the nipple, which will afford relief. 

The Bladder. — The patient during pregnancy is 



THE URINARY ORGANS. 1 23 

liable to various affections of the bladder. There 
is sometimes a sluggishness of that organ, with little 
or no inclination to urinate. At other times there 
is a great irritability and constant desire to pass 
urine ; while in a third case, more especially to- 
ward the end of pregnancy, the urine can hardly 
be retained — the slightest bodily exertion, such as 
walking, stooping, coughing, sneezing, etc., causes 
it to pass involuntarily ; and even in some cases, 
where the patient is perfectly quiet, it passes with- 
out her having power to prevent it. 

A sluggish state of the bladder is best remedied 
by gentle exercise, and by the patient attempting 
to make water at least every four hours. 

Irritability of the Bladder. — The patient ought 
to drink freely of the following beverage : 

Best Gum Arabic, one ounce; 
Pearl Barley, one ounce; 
Water, one pint and a half; 

Boil for a quarter of an hour, then strain, and sweeten either 
with granulated or lump sugar. 

The bowels ought to be kept gently open and 
the patient should live on a mild, bland, nourishing 
diet. 

Where the urine cannot be retained there is not a 
great deal to be done, as the womb by pressing 
on the bladder prevents much present relief. The 
patient ought frequently in the day to lie either 
on a hair mattress or a couch. She should drink 
but a moderate quantity of liquid, and if she has a 
cough (for a cough greatly increases this com- 
plaint) she ought to take the following mixture: 



124 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

Compound Tincture of Camphor, half an ounce; 

Compound Spirits of Lavender, half a dram; 

Oxymel of Squills, six drams; 

Water, six ounces and a half; 

Two tablespoonfuls to be taken three times a day. 

Fainting. — A delicate woman in pregnancy is 
apt to feel faint, or does actually faint away. 
When we consider the enormous changes that take 
place during pregnancy, and the great pressure 
there is upon the nerves and the bloodvessels, it 
is not at all surprising that this is true. Fainting 
at such times is disagreeable, but not at all dan- 
gerous, unless the patient is subject to heart 
disease. 

Treatment. — The first thing to be done in faint- 
ing, is to lay the patient flat on the bed with the 
head even or lower than the rest of the body. 
The stays and any tight articles of dress — if she 
has been foolish enough to wear either tight stays 
or tight clothes — ought to be loosened ; the win- 
dows should be thrown wide open ; water ought 
to be sprinkled on her face ; and sal-volatile — a 
teaspoonful in a wineglassful of water, or a glass 
of wine, ought to be administered. Smelling salts 
must be applied to the nostrils. The attendants 
should not crowd around her, as she ought to have 
plenty of fresh air. 

She must, in the intervals, live on good, light, 
generous diet, keep early hours, and sleep in a 
well-ventilated apartment. The following strength- 
ening medicine will be found serviceable : 

Sulphate of Quinine, twelve grains; 



PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 12$ 

Diluted Sulphuric Acid, half a dram ; 
Syrup of Orange peel, half an ounce; 
Water, seven ounces and a half: 
Two tablespoonfuls to be taken three times a day. 

A nervous patient during this period is subject 
to palpitation of the heart. This palpitation, pro- 
vided it occur only during pregnancy, is not dan- 
gerous, and need not cause alarm. It is occasioned 
by the pressure of the womb upon the large blood- 
vessels, which induces a temporary derangement 
of the heart's action. This palpitation is generally 
worse at night, when the patient is lying down. 
When lying down, the midriff, because of the in- 
creased size of the abdomen, is pressed upward, 
and for this reason the heart has not its accustomed 
room in which to work, and palpitation is the 
result. 

The best remedies are half a teaspoonful of 
compound spirits of lavender, or a teaspoonful of 
sal-volatile in a wine glass of camphor mixture, or 
a combination of lavender and of sal-volatile : 

Compound Spirits of Lavender, one dram; 
Sal Volatile, eleven drams; 
Mix., — A teaspoonful of the drops to be taken occasionally in a 
wine glass of water, 

These medicines should be kept at the bedside 
of the patient, in order that they may be admin- 
istered at once, if necessary. Brandy is sometimes 
given, but it is a dangerous remedy, while the 
lavender and the sal-volatile are perfectly safe 
medicines, and can never do the slightest harm. 

Mental emotion, fatigue, late hours, and close 



126 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

rooms ought to be guarded against. Gentle out- 
door exercise, and cheerful but not boisterous 
company, are desirable. 

Cramps of the legs and thighs are apt to attend 
pregnancy, especially at night and during the lat- 
ter months; they are caused by pressure of the 
womb upon the nerves which extend to the lower 
extremities. Treatment. — Tightly tie a folded 
handkerchief round the limb a little above the part 
affected, and let it remain on for a few minutes. 
Friction by means of the hand either with opodel- 
doc or with laudanum (taking care not to drink it 
by mistake) will also give relief. Cramps some- 
times attack either the bowels or the back of a 
pregnant woman ; when such is the case, let a bag 
of hot salt, or a hot water bottle, filled with hot 
water, and covered with flannel, be applied over 
the part affected ; and let a bottle of hot water or 
a hot brick, encased in flannel, be placed to the 
soles of the feet. If cramps of the bowels, the 
back, or the thighs are very severe, the following 
mixture will be serviceable : 

Compound Tincture of Camphor, one ounce: 
Dill Water, five ounces; 
A wine glass of this mixture should be taken at bedtime occasion- 
ally, and be repeated, if necessary, in four hours. 

The whites, especially during the latter months, 
and particularly if the patient has borne many 
children, are troublesome, and are, in a measure, 
owing to the pressure of the womb on the parts 
below, causing irritation, The best way to obvi- 



THE WHITES — TREATMENT. \2J 

ate such pressure, is for the patient to lie down a 
great part of each day. She ought to retire early, 
sleep on a hair mattress, and in a well ventilated 
apartment. A thick, heavy quilt at these times, 
and indeed at all times, is particularly objection- 
able ; the perspiration cannot pass readily through 
it as through blankets. The bowels ought to be 
gently opened. 

The best application will be, to bathe the 
parts with fuller's earth and warm water, in the 
proportion of a handful of powdered fuller's earth 
to half a wash-basinful of warm water. The in- 
ternal parts ought, night and morning, to be 
bathed with it. If the fuller's earth should not have 
the desired effect, an alum injection* should be 
used every night and morning by means of a fount- 
ain syringe or fifteen drops of the solution of diace- 
tate of lead should be added to a quarter of a pint 
of lukewarm water, and be used in a similar man- 
ner as the alum injection. 

Cleanliness, in these cases, cannot be too 
strongly urged. Indeed, every woman, either 
married or single, ought, unless special circum- 
stances forbid, to use the sitz-bath. If she has not 
the whites, or if she has them only slightly, cold, 
quite cold, water is preferable to tepid. I should 
advise every woman, both married and single, to 
take a quick sitz-bath every morning (except during 
monthly periods); throwing either a small blanket 
or shawl over her shoulders when bathing. 

*Dissolve halt a teaspoonful of powdered alum in a quarter of a pint of tepid 
water, to make the injection. 



128 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

She should, for the first few mornings, make 
the water lukewarm; but the quicker it can be 
used cold — quite cold — the more good it will do. 
If the above plan were more generally followed, 
women of all classes and ages would derive im- 
mense benefit from its adoption, and many serious 
diseases would be warded off. The use of the 
sitz-bath, after a time, would be a great comfort 
and enjoyment. 

When the patient has been much weakened by 
the whites, she will derive benefit from a quinine 
mixture (see a previous paragraph) — a dose of 
which ought to be taken twice or three times a 
day. 

Irritation and itching of the external parts is a 
most troublesome affection, and may occur at any 
time, but more especially during the latter period 
of pregnancy. It is a subject upon which a wo- 
man is too delicate and too sensitive to consult a 
physician, and the misery it entails, if not relieved, 
is almost past endurance. 

In the first place, the diet should be simple and 
nourishing ; avoiding stimulants of all kinds. In 
the next place, use a tepid salt and water sitz-bath. 
Put a large handful of table salt into the sitz-bath, 
then add cold water to the depth of three or four 
inches, and sufficient hot water to make the water 
tepid or lukewarm. The patient must sit in the 
bath, only for a few seconds. Patients generally 
derive great comfort and benefit from these salt 
and water sitz-baths. It is an important item of 
treatment. 



IRRITATION AND ITCHING — TREATMENT. I2g 

If the itching continues, the following lotion 
ought to be used : 

Solution of diacetate of lead, one dram; 

Rectified spirits of wine, one dram; 

Distilled water, one pint. 
To make a lotion. — The parts affected to be bathed three or four 
times a day with the lotion. Or the parts may be bathed two or three 
times a day with equal parts of vinegar and of water. 

The external parts, and the passage to the 
womb (the vagina) in these cases, are not only ir- 
ritable and itching, but are sometimes hot and in- 
flamed, and are covered either with small pimples, or 
with a whitish exudation of the nature of aphtha 
(thrush), somewhat similar to the thrush on the 
mouth of an infant; then, the addition of glycerine 
to the lotion is a great improvement, and usually 
gives immense relief. Either of the following is a 
good lotion for the purpose : 

Biborate of soda, eight drams; 
Glycerine, five ounces; 
Distilled water, ten ounces. 
To make a lotion. — The part affected to be bathed every four 
hours with the lotion, first shaking the bottle. 

Or the following may be used as an injection : 

Dried white oak bark, one-half pound; 
Water, six quarts; 
Boil down to one gallon and strain. Reduce one-half with hot 
water, and use with fountain syringe. 

False labor pains, especially in a first pregnancy, 
are sometimes troublesome. These pains usually 
come on at night, and are frequently owing to a 
disordered stomach. They affect the abdomen, 



130 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

the back and the loins ; and occasionally they 
extend down the hips and the thighs. They attack 
first one place and then another ; they come on at 
irregular intervals ; at one time they are violent, at 
another they are feeble. The pains, instead of be- 
ing grinding or bearing down, are more of a colicky 
nature. 

As these false pains more frequently occur in a 
first pregnancy, and as they are often more violent 
two or three weeks toward the completion of the 
full time, and as they usually come on either at 
night or in the night, it behooves both the patient 
and the monthly nurse to be cognizant of the fact, 
in order that they may not make a false alarm, and 
summon the doctor before he is really wanted, and 
when he cannot be of the slightest benefit to the 
patient. 

It is sometimes stated that a woman has been in 
labor two or three weeks before the child was born! 
Such is not the fact. The case in question is one 
probably of false pains ending in true pains. 

How, then, is the patient to know that the pains are 
false and not true labor pains? False labor pains 
come on three or four weeks before the full time ; 
true labor pains at the completion of the full time ; 
false pains are unattended with " show ; " true pains 
generally commence the labor with " show ; " false 
pains are generally migratory — changing from 
place to place — first attacking the loins, then the 
hips, then the lower portions, and even other por- 
tions of the abdomen — first one part, then another ; 



FALSE LABOR PAINS. 131 

true pains generally begin in the back ; false pains 
commence as spasmodic pains ; true pains as grind- 
ing pains ; false pains come on at uncertain periods, 
at one time a quarter of an hour elapsing, at 
others, an hour or two hours between each pain — 
at one time the pain is sharp, at another, trifling ; 
"true pains come on with tolerable regularity, and 
gradually increase in severity. 

But remember — the most valuable distinguish- 
ing symptom is the absence of show in false labor 
pains, and the presence oi it in true labor pains. It 
might be said that show does not always usher in 
the commencement of labor. Granted ; but such 
cases are exceedingly rare, and may be considered 
as the exception and not the rule. 

Treatment. — The patient ought to abstain for a 
day or two from all stimulants. The bowels 
should be rubbed every night at bedtime either 
with camphorated oil, previously warmed, or with 
laudanum. Either hot salt, in a flannel bag, or an 
India-rubber hot water bottle applied every night 
at bedtime to the abdomen, frequently affords 
great relief. 

The period of gestation is usually two hundred 
and eighty days — forty weeks — ten lunar or nine 
calendar months. It will be well to commence the 
estimate about three days after the last day of 
menstruation. 

A good plan is as follows : Let forty weeks and 
a few days, from the time specified above, be 
marked on an almanac, and the date will seldom 



32 



DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 



be far from correct. Suppose, for instance, the 
last day of menstruation was on January the 15th, 
the patient may expect to be confined on or about 
October the 25th. 

I may in passing, just point out the great im- 
portance of a wife making, every time, a note of 
the last day of her periods; by doing so it might 
save her a great deal of inconvenience, uncer- 
tainty, and anxiety. 

A pregnancy table. — The following table, show- 
ing the probable commencement, duration, and 
completion of pregnancy, and indicating the date 
on or about which day the labor might occur, will, 
I trust, be found very useful. This table allows 
three days over the 280 days — making 283 days ; 
that is, the count of 280 days commences three 
days after the last day of menstruation. The 
reason I have chosen the third day is, that concep- 
tion is more likely to take place a few days — say 
three days — after the last day of the periods than 
at any other time. 

A PREGNANCY TABLE. 



Last day of the Labor 

Periods. On or A bout. 
Jan. 1. Oct. 11 



Last day of the Labor 

Periods. On or About. 
Jan. 10 Oct. 20 

, " 21 

, " 22 

" 23 

" 24 

" 25 

" 26 

" 27 

" 28 



12 


II 


13 


" 12 


14 


" 13 


15 


" 14 


16 


" 15 


17 


" 16 


18 


" 17 


19 


" 18 



A PREGNANCY TABLE. 



133 



Last day of the 



Periods. 



Jan. 



Feb. 



Labor 
On or About. 

19 Oct. 29 

20 " 30 

21 " 31 

22 NOV. I 

23 " 2 

24 " 3 

25 " 4 

26 " 5 

27 " 6 

28 " 7 

29 " 8 

30 " 9 

31 " I0 

1 " 11 

2 " 12 

3 " 13 

4 " x 4 

5 " 15 

6 «' 16 

7 " 17 

8 " 18 

9 " 19 

10 " 20 

11 " 21 

12 " 22 

13 " 23 

14 " 24 

15 " 25 

16 " 26 

17 " 27 

18 " 28 

19 " 29 

20 " 30 

21 Dec. 1 

22 " 2 

23 " 3 

24 " 4 



Last day of the 



Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



April 



25. 
26 

27- 
28. 

1 

2. 

3 

4- 

5 

6. 

7- 

8. 

9; 

IO. 

II. 

12 

13 

14 

15- 
16. 

17. 

18. 
19. 
20. 
21 . 
22. 

23- 

24 

25 
26. 

27- 

28. 
29. 
30. 

3i- 
1. 
2 



. Dec. 5 

. «■ 6 

• " 7 
. " 8 

• " 9 
. " 10 
. " 11 
. " 12 

• " 13 

• " 14 

• " 15 
. " 16 
. " 17 
. " 18 

• " 19 
. " 20 
. " 21 
. " 22 

• " 23 
. '« 24 

• " 25 
. " 26 
. " 27 
. " 28 

" 29 

■ " 30 

■ " 3i 
Jan. 1 
. " 2 

• " 3 

• " A 

■ " 5 

6 

■ " 7 
, " S 

9 

" 10 



134 



DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 



Last day of the 
Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Last day of the 



Periods. 



April 3.- Jan. 11 



M 



ay 



May 



4- 
5. 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9- 
10. 
11 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 

17- 

18. 

19 
20. 
21. 
22 

23- 
24. 

25- 

26. 

27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 

I. 

2. 

3- 

4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 



Feb 



12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 



June 



10. . 

11 . . 

12. . 

13-.- 
14.. 

I5-. 
16.. 
17.. 

18.. 
19.. 

20. . 

21. . 
22. . 
23.. 
24.. 
25.. 
26.. 
27.. 
28.. 
29 . 
30.. 
3i • 

1. . 

2. . 
3-. 
4 • 



Labor 
On or About. 
. . . Feb. 17 



Mar 



l 9 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 

2S 
I 
2 

3 
4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 

12 
13 
14 

15 
16 

17 

18 

19 

2C 

21 
22 
23 
24 
25 



A PREGNANCY TABLE. 



135 



Last day of the 
Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Last day of the 



Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



June 16 Mar. 26 

17 " 27 

18 ' 28 

19 2 9 

20 " 30 

21 " 31 

22 April 1 

23 " 2 

24 " 3 

25 " 4 

26 " 5 

27 " 6 

28 " 7 

29 

30 

July 1 

2 

3 

4 

5 • 

6 

7 



9- 
10. 
11. 

12. 

13 
14. 
15. 

16. 

17- 
18. 

19 

20 
21 

22 



May 



July 



Aug. 



May 



9- 
10. 

12. 
13 
14 
15- 

16. 

17 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23- 
24 
25. 
26 

27 
28 



June 



2 
3 
4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 

18 

19 
20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

2 7 

2S 

2 9 
30 
3i 



i3 6 



DISEASES OF PREGNANCY 



Last day of the Labor 

Periods. On or About 

Aug. 29 June £ 

30 

31 

Sept. 1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 



9 

10. 
11. 

12. 

13- 

14. 
15. 
16. 

17. 

18. 
19. 
20. 
21 . 
22. 

23. 
24. 

25- 
26. 

27. 

23 

29 
30. 

I. 

2. 

3- 

4- 



July 



9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 

18 

19 
20 
21 

22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

27 
28 
29 
30 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 

12 
! 3 
14 



Last day of the 



Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Oct. 



Nov 



5 July 15 

5 " 16 



9- 

10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23- 

24.. 
25.. 
26.. 

27- 

28., 
29 
30 . 
31. 

2. . 

3-. 
4.. 

5 ■ 

6 . 

7-- 
8.. 

9 • 
10. . 



Aug. 



17 

18 

19 
20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

27 

28 

29 
30 
3i 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 

18 

19 
20 



A PREGNANCY TABLE. 



137 



Last day of the 
Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Nov. II Aug. 

" 12 



Dec 



13 
14. 

15 

16. 

17- 

18. 

J 9 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23. 
24. 

25. 
26 

27 

28 

29. 

•30. 
1 

2. 
3- 
4- 
5- 
6. 



Sept. 



21 

22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 

28 

29 
30 
3i 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 



Lasr day of the 
Periods. 



Labor 
On or About. 



Dec. 7 Sept. 16 



9- 
10, 
II. 

12. 

13- 
14. 
15. 
16 

17 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23 

24- 

25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 

29 

30. 

31 



Oct. 



17 

18 

19 

20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
28 
29 
30 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 



This pregnancy table may, as a rule, be safely 
relied upon. Many of my patients have for years, 
from these estimates, been often confined on the 
very day specified. I say often as it is utterly impos- 
sible to fix upon the exact day — the approximate day 
can only be specified — some women being at their 
full time as early as the thirty-seventh week; while 
others, although but very rarely, are not at their 



I38 DISEASES OF PREGNANCV. 

full time until the forty-fifth week — hence the 
uncertainty in some cases of such calculations. 

A woman may, by becoming pregnant while 
nursing, be put out of her reckoning. Not being 
unwell at such a time, she consequently does not 
know how to count. She ought in this case to 
take the time of quickening as a starting point, 
from which time, count ahead one hundred and 
fifty-six days. It must be borne in mind, however, 
that so correct an estimate can never be made, 
quickening taking place at a date varying in dif- 
ferent individuals. Occasionally a wrong estimate 
may be made, owing to the fact that some women 
have a slight menstruation the first and even suc- 
ceeding months after conception has taken place. 
These cases are rare, however, and when they do 
occur the last normal period should be taken, from 
which the estimate should be made. 

The question is frequently asked, " Can a physi- 
cian tell, before the child is born, whether it will 
be a boy or a girl?" Many eminent physicians 
claim that this can be done, and base their 
opinions upon what they suppose to be a law of 
nature. This law is to the effect that if conception 
takes place in the early part of the menstrual 
period a female child will be the result ; if in the 
latter part, a male child will be born. It has been 
observed that queen-bees lay female eggs first and 
male eggs afterward. The same is true of do- 
mesticated fowls, and from these facts, the obser- 
vations made by physicians, and the experiments 



A FREQUENT QUESTION. 1 39 

of stock-raisers, this law has been deduced. That 
it does not hold good in all cases, there can be lit- 
tle doubt, but, notwithstanding the exceptions, I 
think that there is good ground for the belief, and 
that in a majority of cases the supposed law will 
prove true. 

From this it will be seen that if the unborn child 
is a girl confinement should take place at the date 
denoted by the pregnancy table, and that when a 
woman goes beyond this date it should prove a 
boy. This will generally be the case. Beside the 
above method of ascertaining the sex of the foetus, 
the skilled physician can usually determine the 
same by the foetal heart beat, the pulsations being 
more rapid in the female than the male. 

The nurse. — It is an important, a most import- 
ant, consideration to choose a nurse rightly and 
well ; the well-doing of both mother and babe 
often depends upon a right selection. 

A nurse ought to be middle-aged. If young, 
she is apt to be thoughtless and giggling; if old, 
she may be deaf and stupid, and may think too 
much of her trouble. She should have calmness 
and self-possession. She must be gentle, kind, 
good-tempered, and obliging, but firm withal, 
and she should have a cheerful countenance. 
"Some seem by nature to have a vocation for 
nursing ; others do not. Again, nursing has its 
separate branches ; some have the light step, the 
pleasant voice, the cheering smile, the dexterous 
hand, the gentle touch ; others are gifted in cook- 



140 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

ery for the sick." The former good qualities are 
essential to a nurse, and if she can combine the 
latter — she will be invaluable. 

She ought neither to be a tattler, nor a tale- 
bearer, nor a croaker, nor a putterer. A tattler is 
an abomination ; a clacking tongue is most weari- 
some and injurious to the patient. A tale-bearer 
is to be especially avoided ; if she tell tales of her 
former cases, my reader may depend upon it that 
her turn will come. Have nothing to do with a 
gossip of a nurse ; she is a most dangerous person 
to have about you. 

But of all nurses to be shunned as the plague is 
the croaker, one that discourses of the dismal and 
of the dreadful cases that have occurred in her 
experience, many of which, in all probability, she 
herself was the cause of. She is a very upas tree 
in a house. A putterer should be banished from 
the lying-in room ; she is a perpetual worry — a 
perpetual blister! She is a nurse without method, 
without system, and without smartness. She put- 
ters at this, and putters at that, and worries the 
patient beyond measure. She dreams, and drawls, 
and putters. It is better to have a brusque and 
noisy nurse than a puttering one. She ought to 
be either a married woman or a widow. 

She must be sober, temperate and healthy, and 
free from deafness, and from any defect of vision. 
She should have a gentle manner, but yet not mel- 
ancholy. She ought to have the softest step and 
the gentlest tone. She ought to be fond of chil- 



HOW TO SELECT A NURSE. 141 

dren, and must neither mind her trouble nor being- 
disturbed at night. She should be a light sleeper. 

Scrupulous attention to cleanliness, freshness, 
and neatness in her own person, and toward the 
patient and the infant, are most important req- 
uisites. 

In choosing a nurse select one who has a bright, 
sunshiny countenance — having nothing to do with 
a sour-faced individual. 

The nurse ought to be engaged early in preg- 
nancy, as a good nurse is caught up soon, and is 
full of engagements. This is most important ad- 
vice. A lady frequently has to put up with an 
indifferent nurse from neglecting to engage her in 
time. The physician, at the eleventh hour, is fre- 
quently besought to perform an impossibility — to 
select a good nurse, and which he could readily 
have done if time had been given him to make 
the selection. Some of my best nurses are en- 
gaged by my patients as early as two or three 
months after conception, in order to make sure of 
having their favorite nurses. 

A nurse ought to be in the house for a week or 
ten days before the commencement of labor, in 
order that there may be neither bustle nor excite- 
ment, and no hurrying to and fro at the last 
moment to find her ; and that she may have every- 
thing prepared, and the linen well aired for the 
coming event. 

My reader may say, " You want a nurse to be 
perfection?" Well, 1 do ; a nurse ought to be as 



I42 DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

near perfection as poor human nature will allow. 
None but good and true women should enter the 
ranks of nurses ; for their responsibilit}^ is great, 
and their power of doing either good or evil is 
enormous. Hence good nurses are prizable, and 
should be paid most liberally. 

The selection of a nurse is, for the well-being 
both of mother and of babe, quite as important as 
is the choice of a doctor ; indeed, I do not know 
whether she is not of more importance. Mother 
and babe are thoroughly dependent upon her for 
most important services. 

I hope I have said enough — I am quite sure 
that I have not said one word too much — on the 
care required in the selection of a nurse. It is 
impossible when such important interests are at 
stake, to be too particular, or to overstate its 
importance. 




CHAPTER VII. 



MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION, 



A premature expulsion of the foetus before the end 
of the sixth month is called either a miscarriage or 
an abortion; after this time, but before the full pe- 
riod of nine months, a premature labor. 

A miscarriage is a serious calamity, and should 
be considered in that light ; not only to the mother 
herself, whose constitution, frequent miscarriages 
seriously injure, and eventually ruin ; but it may 
rob the wife of one of her greatest earthly privi- 
leges, the inestimable pleasure and delight of being 
a mother. 

As a miscarriage may generally be prevented, it 
behooves a wife to look well into the matter, and 
to study the subject thoroughly for herself, in order 
to guard against her frst miscarriage; for the frst 
miscarriage is the one that frequently leads to a 
series. 

Causes.— A slight cause will frequently occasion 
the separation of the child from the mother, and 
the consequent death and expulsion of the foetus ; 
hence the readiness with which some women mis- 
carry. The following are the most common causes : 
Long walks ; riding on horseback, or over rough 

(143) 



144 MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 

roads in a carriage ; a long railway journey ; over- 
exertion and sitting up late at night ; too frequent 
sexual intercourse. The excitement incident to 
parties, balls and concerts ; all violent emotions of 
the mind, passion, fright, etc.; fatigue ; over- 
reaching ; sudden shocks or falls ; taking a wrong 
step either in ascending or in descending stairs ; 
falling down stairs; lifting heavy weights; violent 
drastic purgatives ; calomel ; obstinate consti- 
pation ; debility of constitution ; consumptive habit 
of body ; fashionable amusements ; dancing ; late 
hours ; tight lacing ; indeed, anything and every- 
thing that injuriously affects either the mind or the 
body. 

A woman threatened with miscarriage usually 
experiences a feeling of lassitude, of debility, of 
malaise and depression of spirits ; she feels as 
though she were going to be unwell, and com- 
plains of weakness and uneasiness about the loins, 
the hips, the thighs, and the lower part of the 
abdomen. This is an important stage of the case, 
and one in which judicious treatment will almost to 
a certainty prevent a miscarriage. 

More serious symptoms of miscarriage. — If the 
above symptoms are allowed to proceed, unchecked 
and unattended, after a day or two there will be a 
slight show of blood. This show soon increases 
to flooding, and shortly becomes clotted. There 
may at this time be but little pain, and the miscar- 
riage may, with judicious treatment, be even now 
warded off. At all events, if the miscarriage can 



CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS. 145 

not be prevented, the ill effects may, with care, be 
palliated, and means may be used to prevent a 
future miscarriage. 

Decided symptoms of a miscarriage. — If the mis- 
carriage is allowed to proceed, a new train of 
symptoms develop, pains begin to come on, at first 
slight, irregular, and of a grinding nature, but which 
soon become more severe, regular, and of a bear- 
ing-down nature. Indeed, the case is now a labor 
in miniature, and the patient is sure to miscarry. 

There are two stages of miscarriage — first, the 
separation of the ovum from the womb ; and sec- 
ond, the expulsion of the ovum from the womb. 
The former, from the rupture of vessels, is neces- 
sarily attended with more or less of flooding. The 
latter, in addition to the flooding, from the con- 
traction of the womb, with more or less of pain. 
If there is separation, there must follow expulsion, 
as Nature is doing all she can to get rid of the 
separated ovum, which has now become a foreign 
body ; and if there is expulsion, there must, of 
necessity, be pain, as contraction of the womb 
invariably causes pain ; hence there is, in every mis- 
carriage, more or less of flooding and of pain ; 
indeed, you cannot have a miscarriage without 
both the one and the other. 

The most usual time for a woman to miscarry, 
is from the eighth to the twelfth week. It is not 
confined to this period, as during the whole time 
of pregnancy there is a chance of premature ex- 
pulsion of the contents of the womb. A miscar- 



146 MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 

riage before the fourth month is at the time attended 
with little danger ; although, if neglected, it may 
forever injure the constitution. 

A miscarriage sometimes begins and ends in a 
few days — five or six; it at other times continues 
two, and even three weeks. 

Treatment. — If the patient has the slightest 
show, she should immediately confine herself to 
the bed and keep perfectly quiet. A soft feather 
bed must be avoided ; it both enervates the body 
and predisposes to miscarriage. There is nothing 
better for her to sleep on than a hair mattress. 

Sexual intercourse should be carefully avoided ; 
indeed, the patient ought to have a separate bed. 
This is most important advice, and must be fol- 
lowed. 

The patient should be put on low diet, such as 
arrowroot, tapioca, sago, gruel, chicken broth, 
tea, toast and water, and lemonade ; and whatever 
she drinks ought to be cold. Grapes at these 
times are cooling and refreshing. 

The temperature of a bedroom should be kept 
cool; and if in summer, the window ought to be 
thrown open. Laxative medicines must be 
avoided ; and if the flooding is violent, cold com- 
presses should be applied externally to the parts. 

The same care is required after a miscarriage as 
alter a confinement; indeed, a patient requires to 
be treated much in the same manner. She ought 
to keep her bed for a few days, and should live 
upon the diet recommended after a confinement, 



TREATMENT. 147 

avoiding for the first few days stimulants of all 
kinds. Many women date their state of ill health 
to a neglected miscarriage; and it behooves every 
woman to guard against such a misfortune. 

A patient prone to miscarry ought to use every 
means to brace and strengthen her system, before 
again becoming pregnant. The best plan that she 
can adopt will be to leave her husband for 
several MONTHS, and go to some healthy spot; 
neither to a fashionable watering-place, nor to a 
friend's house where much company is kept, but 
to some quiet country place — if to a healthy farm- 
house so much the better. 

Early hours are quite indispensable. She ought 
to lie on a hair mattress, and should have but scant 
clothing on the bed. She must sleep in a well- 
ventilated apartment. Her diet should be light 
and nourishing. Gentle exercise ought to be taken, 
which should alternate with frequent rest. 

Cold baths ought to be used every morning, 
and the body should afterward be dried with coarse 
towels. If in winter let the water be made tepid, 
and its temperature gradually lowered until used 
quite cold. A shower bath is in these cases serv- 
iceable ; it braces and invigorates the system, and 
is one of the best tonics she can use. 

If she is already pregnant it would not be admis- 
sible, as the shock of the shower bath would be 
too great and might bring on a miscarriage ; but 
still she ought to continue the cold bathing. 

A lady who is prone to miscarry ought, as soon 



I48 MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 

as she is preg?t,ant y to lie down a great part of every 
day ; she must keep her mind calm and unruffled, 
live on a plain diet, retire early to rest, and have a 
separate sleeping apartment. She ought to abstain 
from taking laxative medicine, and constipation 
should be avoided or treated by following the sug- 
gestions in the chapter on constipation. 

Gentle walking exercise daily is desirable ; long 
walks and horseback riding must be sedulously 
avoided. 

As the usual period for miscarrying approaches 
(for it frequently comes on at one particular time), 
let the patient be more than usually careful ; let 
her lie down the greatest part of the day ; let her 
mind be kept calm and unruffled ; let all fash- 
ionable society and every exciting amusement be 
eschewed ; let both the sitting and the sleeping 
apartments be kept cool and well ventilated ; let 
the bowels, if costive, be opened by an enema of 
warm water, or the external application of castor 
oil ; let the diet be simple, yet nourishing ; let all 
stimulants be avoided ; and if there are the 
slightest symptoms of an approaching miscarriage, 
such as pains in the loins, the hips, or in the lower 
abdomen, or the slightest show of blood, let a 
physician be instantly sent for, as he may, at an 
early period, be able to ward off the threatened 
mishap. 

Criminal abortion. — Children have a right to be 
born ! Alas, that this God-given privilege should 
ever be called in question ! That it is so, how- 



CRIMINAL ABORTION. 149 

ever, the testimony of modern physicians, the daily 
records of the newspapers, the fulminations from 
the pulpit, the remonstrances of philanthropists, 
and the forebodings of philosophers, abundantly 
prove. 

If we examine the history of abortion, we shall 
find that this crime, now so commonly practiced 
as to demand the attention it is receiving from 
moralists, is of extremely ancient origin, having 
existed among pagan nations from the earliest 
times ; that the influence of Christianity has ever 
been to banish the practice, and that in proportion 
as Christianity becomes weakened or destroyed, 
the fearful evil in question reappears and extends. 

" If this evil were principally resorted to for 
the purpose of covering up the fruits of licenti- 
ousness, and shielding from open disgrace, the 
victims of dishonored virtue, there might perhaps 
be a faint apology for silence, but with shame for 
the wives and mothers of our land, the statement 
is made, that they are the chief offenders. This 
statement may seem strange to the ears of many a 
devoted wife and mother, but to the physician, 
who is generally a receiver of family secrets, it is 
a well-known fact." 

Intentional abortion is to all purposes a murder. 
This is now conceded by all who are informed 
upon the subject. Among the ancients the dis- 
tinction was made that before the time of quicken- 
ing the child has no life, and therefore there was 
no sin in its destruction. This monstrous heresy 



150 MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 

against religion, science and common sense is not 
without its imitators in our own time. That the 
embryo is alive and hence quick from the moment 
of conception, modern science has abundantly 
proven. It follows, then, that this crime is equally 
as great whether committed in the early weeks of 
pregnancy or at a more advanced period in the life 
of the foetus. 

The laws of all civilized countries make abor- 
tion a crime, and the punishment severe. All who 
are accessory to it may be punished with imprison- 
ment, and in some cases even with death. Aside 
from this, however, the maternal instinct of the 
mother and a sufficient regard for her own health 
should prevent any and all attempts of this char- 
acter. The amount of physical suffering that may 
follow cannot be estimated. Inflammations of the 
womb and kindred disorders of the generative 
organs are almost sure to result, and frequently 
will resist the most skillful treatment. At other 
times blood poisoning may follow from the reten- 
tion of the placenta and membranes of the foetus. 
This may produce immediate death, and at best 
can but end in broken health and lifelong suffering. 

In extenuation of this evil some may say that 
many of the diseases of delicate women are due 
to excessive child-bearing. This is undoubtedly 
true. Hardly a day passes that a physician of 
large practice will not see instances of debility 
from this source. The evils of a too rapid suc- 
cessions of pregnancies are likewise conspicuously 



A LAW OF NATURE. 151 

seen in the children. Puny, sickly, short-lived or 
idiotic children are apt to follow over-production. 
Often they come to the mother already over- 
burdened with the cares of numerous progeny, and 
cannot receive at her hand the care and attention 
they require. To some women pregnancy is a 
nine-months' torture, and there are others to whom 
it is almost certain to prove fatal. In such cases 
an increase of family is a condition not to be 
desired, but the remedy lies, not in destroying the 
product of conception, but rather in preventing 
that condition. In a preceding chapter the method 
by which this result may be attained, has been 
mentioned. It is a law of nature — to which there 
may be some exceptions — that conception must 
take place at about the time of the menstrual flow. 
If sexual intercourse occurs a short time before 
this period, the male germ may remain viable, and 
undoubtedly the female germ remains in the womb 
and retains its vitality a few days after the flow 
ceases. The conditions of health, temperament and 
surroundings are so varied that no infallible law 
can be stated that will govern all cases. It may 
be said with certainty, however, that from ten days 
after the cessation of the menstrual flow until 
three days preceding its return, there is very little 
chance of conception, while the converse is equally 
true. An understanding of this simple law has 
enabled many to regulate the number of offspring 
at will. To do this, however, requires something 
more on the part ot the husband than to blindly 



15: 



MISCARRIAGE AND ABORTION. 



follow the animal passion so long his inheritance. 
It requires continence, self-control and a will- 
ingness to deny himself, and when he can accom- 
plish this then there will be fewer cases of out- 
raged nature, and more of the children born will 
be conceived and nurtured in love. 




CHAPTER VIII. 



PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 



That a mother may, during- the period of gesta- 
tion, exercise some influence, by her own volun, 
tary mental and physical action, either unwittingly 
or purposely (and aside from the usual involuntary 
action of the laws of heredity) in determining the 
traits and tendencies of her offspring, is now a 
common belief among intelligent people. But 
probably few have any definite understanding of 
the process by which such results are effected, or 
conception of the extent to which this process may 
be controlled, by intelligent purpose and wise di- 
rection, for the benefit of our children and the im- 
provement of our race. 

No more important subject can engage the 
attention of parents, and there is none in which in- 
telligent and loving mothers will take a deeper 
interest when once made intelligible to them. 

The assertion has been made that "it is for the 
mother, by the use of appropriate means (provided 
a sufficient organic capacity has been germinallv 
contributed by the father, and provided, also, the 
mother's efforts are properly seconded by the 
father) to produce a poet, a thinker, an artist, an 

053) 



154 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

inventor, a philanthropist, or any other type of 
manhood or womanhood, desirable or undesirable, 
as she will." 

If this, or any near approximation to it, is pos- 
sible, it is surely worth the while of every mother, 
and father also, to make an effort to know in what 
these appropriate means consist, and how to apply 
them successfully. 

An author, Dr. Brittan, who has given much 
study to the occult problems of human life, gives 
the following very reasonable hypothesis as to the 
law or process of embryonic moulding : 

" The singular effects produced on the unborn 
child by the sudden mental emotions of the mother 
are remarkable examples of a kind of electrotyping 
on the sensitive surfaces of living forms. It is 
doubtless true that the mind's action, in such cases, 
may increase or diminish the molecular deposits in 
the several portions of the system. Tm? precise 
place which each separate particle assumes in the 
new organic structure may be determined by the 
influence of thought or feeling. If, for example, 
there exists in the mother any unusual tendency of 
the vital forces to the brain at the critical period, 
there will be a similar cerebral development and 
activity in the offspring." 

In illustration and confirmation of this law, the 
same author gives the following facts : 

"A lady, who, during the period of gestation, 
was chiefly employed in reading the poets and in 
giving form to her day-dreams of the ideal world, 



THE LAW OF EMBRYONIC MOULDING. 15$ 

at the same time gave to her child (in phreno- 
logical parlance) large ideality, and a highly imag- 
inative turn of mind. 

" Some time since we met with a youth who 
had finely moulded limbs and a symmetrical form 
throughout. His mother has a large, lean, atten- 
uated frame, that does not offer so much as a 
single suggestion of the beautiful. The boy is 
doubtless indebted for his fine form to the presence 
of a beautiful French lithograph in his mother's 
sleeping apartment, and which presented for her 
contemplation the faultless form of a naked child." 

The electrotyping process referred to in the 
above quotation may not be familiar to every 
reader. It consists in causing, by means of elec- 
trical agency, the deposit of fine particles of metal 
(as gold, silver or copper) dissolved in a powerful 
acid, upon the surface of any article which it is 
desired should receive a coating of such metal. 
Gilding, silver-plating and copper-facing are now 
executed to a large extent by this curious process, 
the coating of metal thus deposited becoming ex- 
ceedingly compact and durable, and capable of 
being made of any desirable thickness, propor- 
tionate to the time occupied in the process. It is 
reasonable to suppose that by a somewhat similar 
process, effected by the vital forces of the mother, 
and to some extent controllable by her mental 
operations and emotions, are deposited the mole- 
cules of matter which go to form the human em- 
bryo in all its various parts. 



156 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

A striking fact, in further illustration of the same 
law, is given by the author of the valuable book 
entitled " Husband and Wife." 

It is to this effect: A teacher in a Western 
State had under her instruction five children be- 
longing to one family. " The two eldest were dull, 
inert, and slow to learn ; while the third, a girl about 
twelve years of age, was remarkably bright, sensi- 
tive and talented. Not only apt and quick at her 
lessons, she possessed a fine poetic temperament, 
accompanied by a keen appreciation of the beauties 
of nature ; she could also write a theme in prose or 
verse with ease and facility. The children younger 
than this one were both physically and mentally 
superior to the two eldest, but far inferior to her 
in talent and refinement of manners." These dif- 
ferences were so marked that the teacher's curi- 
osity was excited to learn the cause. Becoming 
intimately acquainted with the mother (who at 
first could assign no reason for the diversity), the 
teacher at length ascertained the following facts : 
Some months prior to the birth of the favored 
child, the mother (who, though reared in an East- 
ern State, in the enjoyment of fair advantages, had 
become the wife of a farmer in a new country, 
deprived of literary and social privileges, and 
overworked in the struggle to acquire a compe- 
tence) had her attention attracted to a" volume of 
Walter Scott's poems, brought to the house by a 
canvasser ; and she was so seized with a desire to 
possess and read the book, that, not having at hand 



A TEACHERS OBSERVATIONS. 1 57 

the money to purchase it, she had walked lour 
miles at night to borrow of a friend a sufficient 
sum for the purpose. " And a glorious time I had 
in reading it," she said ; " for often in the perusal 
of its pages I forgot my fatigues and cares." Hav- 
ing read the book so often that she came to know 
much of it by rote, she used to sing the songs to 
the child when an infant, and afterward to repeat 
the stories to her when a little girl. Here, no 
doubt, was the source of the superior intelligence, 
refinement and poetic tendencies of the child. 

An old schoolmaster stated that in the course 
of his personal experience he observed a remark- 
able difference in the capacities of children for 
learning, which was connected with the education 
and aptitude of their parents; that the children of 
people accustomed to arithmetic learned figures 
quicker than those of differently educated persons; 
while the children of classical scholars more easily 
learned Latin and Greek ; and that, notwithstand- 
ing a few striking exceptions, the natural dullness 
of children born of uneducated parents was pro- 
verbial. 

Every observant teacher could doubtless bear 
witness to the same general facts, and it would be 
easy to fill a volume with testimonies from various 
sources illustrative and confirmatory of the law 
under discussion. Such facts seem to establish 
beyond question the conviction that the mother has 
it largely in her power, by the use of suitable means, 
to confer on her child such a tendency of mind and 



158 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

conformation of brain as shall not only facilitate the 
acquisition of knowledge in any specific direction, 
but make it morally certain that such knowledge 
will be sought and acquired. 

Not only this, but they indicate also that any 
desired type of physical beauty may be conferred, 
even where the mother possesses no such quality. 

And if this is true in respect to ordinary intel- 
lectual abilities and physical features, it must be 
equally true in regard to extraordinary mental 
gifts — the qualities of genius of ever) 7 type — and of 
all moral dispositions and spiritual tendencies as 
well. 

But it will be noted that in the cases thus far 
narrated, the moulding power appears to have been 
exercised merely by accident or chance ; that is, 
without any intelligent purpose on the part of 
mothers to produce the results that have followed. 

Can there be any doubt that the same or similar 
means, if purposely and wisely adopted, and applied 
with the greater care and precision which enlight- 
ened intention would secure, would produce under 
the same law, even more perfect results, and is it 
not altogether probable that an intentional direc- 
tion of the vital or mental forces to any particular 
portion of the brain will cause a development and 
activity in the corresponding portion of the brain 
in the offspring ? 

There seems to be no reasonable ground on 
which these propositions can be denied. 

If then, we accept, as many do, the theory of 



A REASONABLE THEORY. 1 59 

modern phrenology, and regard the brain as made 
up of a congeries of organs, which are the instru- 
ments of distinct faculties of the mind or soul, it 
follows that if the mother during gestation main- 
tains a special activity of any one organ, or group 
of organs, in her brain, she thereby causes a more 
full development of the corresponding organ or 
group in the brain of the foetus, and thus deter- 
mines a tendency to special activity of the faculties 
of which such organs are the instruments, in the 
child. 

And further, it is plain that if any one organ or 
faculty may be thus cultivated before birth, and 
its activity enhanced for life, so may any other — 
and so may all. 

It would seem, then, clearly within the bounds 
of possibility that a mother, by pursuing a syste- 
matic and compreJiensive method, may give a well- 
rounded and harmoniously developed organism to 
her child — and this, notwithstanding even her own 
defects, which under the unguided operation of 
hereditary law, are so likely to be repeated in 
offspring. Or it is within her power to impart a 
leading tendency in any specific direction that she 
may deem desirable for a life of the highest use- 
fulness. 

In this way, it would seem, may ancestral defects 
and undesirable hereditary traits, of whatever 
nature, or however strong, be overcome, or in a 
good degree counterbalanced by giving greater 
activity to counteracting tendencies ; and in this 



l6o PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

way, too, it would appear, may the coveted gifts 
of genius be conferred. 

But some may object that the phrenological 
theory relative to the division of the brain into a 
congeries of separate organs is not and cannot be 
demonstrated. Very well. The fact still remains 
in every one's consciousness, that our minds or 
souls possess a variety of powers or faculties, in 
some sense distinct ; and the evidence still holds 
good that the mother, by the special exercise of 
any one faculty during the critical period referred 
to, can and does create a special tendency to the 
activity of the same faculty in her offspring, which 
may last throughout its earthly life. 

And since it is on the activity, or the lack of it, 
of the several faculties and propensities of our na- 
ture that the characters of individuals depend — 
their loveliness or deformity, their morality or 
immorality, their success or failure in life, their 
happiness or wretchedness here and hereafter — 
and since the welfare and progress of humanity as 
a whole is determined by the characters of in- 
dividuals — and since, again, the tendencies for 
good or evil inwoven into the very woof and text- 
ure of the embryo evidently have greater power 
in shaping the characters and acts of individuals 
than all the training and discipline of childhood 
and youth — this matter of culture before birth 
assumes an importance far above that which per- 
tains to any and all other departments of educa- 
tion. Hitherto it has been least and last in the 



RECAPITULATION. l6l 

estimation of mankind generally. The time must 
come when the last shall be first. 

To recapitulate : We seem justified by present 
physiological knowledge in stating the law of pre- 
natal moulding to be somewhat as follows : The 
human embryo (the structural basis of which is 
probably contributed by the father) is formed and 
developed in all its parts, even to the minutest 
details, by and through the action of the vital, 
mental and spiritual forces of the mother, which 
forces act in and through the corresponding por- 
tions of her own organism. And while this process 
may go forward unconsciously, or without the 
mother's voluntary participation or direction, in 
which case the results are measurably uncertain or 
chance-determined (or, perhaps, more strictly 
speaking, shaped by influences extraneous to her 
own will), yet she may consciously and purposely so 
direct her activities as with a good degree of cer- 
tainty to accomplish specially-desired ends in de- 
termining the traits and qualities of her offspring. 

In other words, it would seem to be within the 
mother's power, by the voluntary and intelligent 
direction of her own forces, in orderly and sys- 
tematic methods, to both mould the physical form 
to lines of beauty and shape the mental, moral and 
spiritual features of her child to an extent to which 
no limit can be assigned. 

The methods by which the tendencies of off- 
spring may be shaped before birth are indicated in 
a general way by the facts and observations 



1 62 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

already set forth. But that this momentous work 
may be performed with anything like complete- 
ness, so that not only each department, physical, 
mental and moral, shall receive its due proportion 
of attention, and at the proper time, but also that 
each specific faculty of the intellect and of the 
moral nature shall be given the requisite impetus 
to result in a well-balanced and harmonious char- 
acter, would seem to require the pursuit of some 
well-devised plan or system in the application of 
methods. 

This is probably important in pre-natal as in 
post-natal culture. No one thinks of conducting a 
common primary school without an order of exer- 
cises, and such a curriculum of studies as shall, by 
progressive steps, cover the whole ground desired 
within the allotted time. If the course of proced- 
ure were left to chance, or to the impulse of the 
moment, it is pretty certain that much would be 
overlooked and neglected, and much done out of 
place, and therefore to little purpose. So in the 
process of embryotic moulding, if left merely to 
the ordinary action of the laws of heredity, with 
the chance occurrence of modifying influences, as 
is usually the case, what else can be expected than 
that parental or ancestral traits, good or bad, will 
strongly preponderate in the child, with now and 
then an erratic variation, desirable or undesirable, 
and perhaps a sad deficiency of some faculty or 
quality important to wholeness. Every wise and 
loving parent must desire to confer on offspring 
wholeness and soundness in every part. 



ANTECEDENT PREPARATION. 1 63 

Besides, if the mother has before her mind a 
definite plan and purpose, to the execution of 
which she is directing and disciplining her ener- 
gies, she will doubtless be thereby measurably 
guarded and fortified against the often disastrous 
effects of surprises and sudden emotions. 

But it will be apparent to every one that the 
work of pre-natal culture, however intelligently 
and systematically undertaken, cannot effect its 
best results if the mother's attention to the subject 
is limited merely to the nine or twelve months 
next preceding birth. Before attempting, then, to 
suggest a plan for orderly and systematic pro- 
cedure during the season of gestation, let us first 
give some attention -to the matter of antecedent 
preparations. 

Great as may be the effects produced by judi- 
cious management during pregnancy, yet these 
effects must be subject to important modifications 
by previous life-habits, long-indulged tendencies, 
weaknesses, diseases of whatever nature, in both 
parents, and in their ancestors on both sides. 

It is manifestly important, then, to the best re- 
sults, that both our habitual states and our tran- 
sient impulses should be such as will bless and not 
curse our offspring — important to have all these 
sources of influences wholly on the side of noble- 
ness, virtue, and beauty of character in all respects. 
To this end does it not behoove every one who 
aspires to the god-like honor of begetting a being in 
his or her own likeness, to first enter in thorough 



164 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

earnest upon the work of self-improvement, self- 
discipline, and moral and spiritual purgation? Is 
it not incumbent upon all such by no means to 
attempt or consent to become instrumental in ini- 
tiating a new life until reasonably sure of not 
imparting the taint of moral or physical evils to 
curse its existence? Can any stronger motive to 
self-improvement be presented to a conscientious 
mind than this consideration affords? And can 
any time in life be too early to begin this work ? 

All should remember that children have rights, 
which are as sacred as can be those of any other 
beings ; and among the first of these is THE RIGHT 
TO BE WELL-BORN. 

It hardly need be said, except for the woful 
thoughtlessness that often exists on the subject, 
that so momentous an undertaking as the orig- 
inating and nurturing of a young immortal — a 
being that is to enjoy or suffer throughout eons of 
existence, and that is to bless or curse its fellows 
on earth through unknown generations, largely 
according to the characteristics enstamped on it 
by its parents — it hardly need be said that such an 
undertaking should be left in no avoidable degree 
to chance or accident. Above all, it should not 
be (as it so often is) the hap-hazard result of blind 
passion, or mere pleasure-seeking indulgence. 
Realizing the august responsibilities involved, 
both parents should not only act with intelligent 
forethought and deliberate intention, but surely 
should make the best preparation in themselves 



THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN. 165 

and their surroundings of which they are capable. 

Since "like begets like," on every plane of ex- 
istence, it is evident that the preparations referred 
to should include every department of the being. 
We are told that the women of ancient Sparta ex- 
ercised in gymnasiums in order to attain the 
highest bodily vigor, preparatory to the exercise 
of maternity. That practice, or its equivalent, 
may well be revived ; or better, women from child- 
hood should be taught to practice such physical 
exercises as will develop and preserve the best 
bodily health and vigor. It should be remembered 
that ordinary occupations, even of the more active 
kinds, exercise but a part of the muscles of the 
body. The whole should be brought into frequent 
action for the fullest vigor. 

But the physical robustness and power of en- 
durance for which the Spartans were noted are 
by no rae:ins all that is desirable in our day. A 
universal culture is now demanded. The mental, 
affectional, moral, assthetical, and spiritual depart- 
ments of our being require no less development 
and fullness of expression in us, if we would do 
our noblest work, and discharge our full duty to 
our offspring. 

But the self-culture from which these result is 
not the work of a day, or even a rear. In fact, 
the whole previous life is none too long a period in 
which to prepare for so serious an undertaking as 
the reproduction of one's self. The earlier, 
therefore, the young of both sexes can be intel- 



l66 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

ligently instructed in these matters, and impressed 
with the importance of living for those who may 
come after them, the better may they become fitted 
for the highest responsibilities of life. 

If the taint of physical disease, of a mental 
unsoundness, or of moral obliquity, lurks in the 
system of either parent, it is liable (perhaps not 
always certain) to be infused into the germ, and 
thus to be reproduced after its kind. 

Some persons have imagined that because the 
impregnating germ contributed by the male parent 
is of microscopic dimensions, it matters little what 
his character or qualities may be. But this opinion 
is contrary to all evidence, and to the analogies of 
the animal and vegetable worlds. The potency of 
spiritual elements or forces is by no means deter- 
mined by the physical dimensions of their vehicle. 
While the mother may, no doubt, do much by 
appropriate management toward modifying and 
counterbalancing in manifestation the traits, good 
or bad, of the father, nevertheless the latter evi- 
dently furnishes a sort of substratum of character 
which is difficult, if not impossible, of entire erad- 
ication. Hence, in human culture, as in agriculture, 
good seed is of no less importance than good soil. 
This being so, the importance, on the part of both 
parents, of attaining both physical health and men- 
tal and moral soundness before reproduction is 
attempted, will be apparent to every one. It is 
plain that when once the germinal elements of dis- 
ease and of moral evils shall have been extirpated 



SOME PERTINENT SUGGESTIONS. l6/ 

in parents, such elements cannot be transmitted to 
offspring, and the latter will then be spared the 
painful processes of purgation which otherwise 
are rendered necessary. This certainly should be 
a most potent inducement to every intending par- 
ent to seek to attain this condition, if attainable. 
Of its attainability we will speak further on. 

Let us ask ourselves, what right have we to 
transmit to others — to the dear offspring which 
every true parental heart yearns to bless with every 
good, and to guard from every evil — what right 
have we to inflict on them the ills and weaknesses, 
the vices and meannesses, which mar and deform 
our own lives ? If we allow the desire for a 
momentary gratification to overbear all these con- 
siderations, and impel us to give origin to a new 
life regardless of its best interests, what else may 
we expect than that the being thus begotten in our 
unworthy likeness will, when it comes on the 
stage of action, prove equally indifferent to our 
welfare and that of others? Such, alas! is the 
general characteristic of the children of humanity 
to-day. 

But it will be asked by many doubting readers, 
Is there practically any help for the existing state 
of things? Are there reasonable grounds for 
hoping that parents in general, physically diseased 
and morally imperfect as they are, may by anv 
process of self-culture, or of spiritual regeneration 
attain to such a state as that they shall not transmit 
physical diseases or moral obliquities to their off- 



1 68 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

spring? Can the sexual appetite, for example, 
whose imperious demands are the chief obstacle 
to such preparatory culture as has been herein 
recommended, be so regulated by any means as to 
admit of this culture ? 

The foregoing are pertinent suggestions, and 
deserve candid consideration. 

In the past so little regard has been paid to the 
finer laws of adaption, temperamental and spiritual, 
between persons entering the parental relation — 
so seldom has the sacred right of the mother to 
choose, in accordance with her own highest moni- 
tions, the time and the circumstances under which 
she would assume the maternal function, been deli- 
cately respected — so often, indeed, has she been 
compelled, or made to believe it her religious duty 
to accept this function at the husband's imperious 
desire, even against the vehement protest of both 
soul and body on her part, causing an aversion, if 
not a loathing, which quite unfits her for the 
proper discharge of its duties, and produces most 
unhappy effects upon the temper and tendencies of 
her offspring — and so shadowy is the ordinary 
faith of even Christians in any available help or 
guidance from superior sources in these important 
concerns, that the common results furnish little in- 
dication of what might be, and what will be when 
greater light and wisdom shall have become prev- 
alent relative to these matters. 

Especially should the husband refrain from ever 
intruding, by either demand or solicitation, against 



THE SACRED RIGHTS OF MOTHERS. 1 69 

the intuitions of the partner. All such intrusions 
are outrages of the most flagrant character, the 
same in essence as positive physical violence, and 
the same within as without the legal marriage rela- 
tion. Offspring begotten when any degree of 
reluctance or want of preparation exists on the 
part of the mother, are robbed of a portion of their 
birthright, and to that degree incapacitated for the 
full enjoyment of existence. That birthright in- 
cludes a full and loving, welcome to the world. 
Without this, what a pitiable object is a child — 
virtually orphaned and outcast from its earliest 
heart-throb, liable to be followed through life by a 
sense of homelessness and friendlessness, a life-long 
mourner in a vale of tears ! But a child wisely 
desired, intelligently prepared for, begotten in 
sweet mutual love, properly cultivated in embryo, 
and at length joyfully welcomed to loving arms, is 
an object of interest and joy to all humanity. 

Notwithstanding all the sad experience of com- 
mon life, in suffering the ills entailed upon us by 
our progenitors and in entailing the same upon our 
offspring, there are reasons for the firm conviction 
that provision exists in the constitution of things 
for the overcoming of hereditary evils, so far, at 
least, that, if transmitted at all, it shall be in only 
an ameliorated instead of an intensified form ; if, in 
fact, they may not be entirely eradicated in our- 
selves. There is help at hand to aid us in this 
work, if we sincerely seek and intelligently apply 
the agencies within our reach. 



170 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

First, it seems evident, on careful reflection, that 
the great forces of nature, the life-currents of the 
universe, tend to health rather than to disease — to 
physical, mental and moral soundness, rather than 
to their opposites. Otherwise deterioration, degra- 
dation, must have been the constant tendency of 
the race in all the past, and utter extinction must 
long ere this have been reached. On the contrary, 
it is generally conceded that, notwithstanding all 
the ignorance, disease, vice, and corruption that 
have existed through all historic time, an actual, 
though slow, improvement has taken place in both 
the physical and moral status of the human race at 
large within the historic period. 

The general tendency of nature to health is also 
seen in the recuperative force of nature — that pow- 
er present in all living organisms which tends at 
once to heal every wound and to cure every dis- 
ease, and which accomplishes these results when 
not thwarted by obstacles too great to be over- 
come. Drugs and potions never heal ; the most 
they do is to facilitate the operations of this inhe- 
rent recuperative force. 

In other words, it appears that health and moral 
excellence are normal to human beings, while disease 
and evil are abnormal. The former are in harmony 
with the great forces of the universe, while the 
latter are antagonistic to these forces, whose con- 
stant tendency is to overcome and remove them. 

Now it has been demonstrated, in the scientific 
propagation of animals, that abnormal character- 



Like begets like. \j\ 

"istics are far less persistent in transmission than 
are normal ones. The tendency of nature's forces 
is to maintain the normal type. The same law 
doubtless obtains in the human species. The law 
that "like begets like " is thus subject to a modify- 
ing principle, and one that is full of hope for suf- 
fering humanity. Not alone do the evils of our 
nature tend to reproduce themselves, but by virtue 
of this natural reversion to what is normal, health- 
ful, improving, the goods and excellences have a 
still better chance of survival — provided adverse in- 
fluences can be kept in abeyance, and that the salutary 
life-currents of the miiverse shall be unobstructed. 

How, then, may this be done? The answer is : 
First, by right living. 

We must cease to nourish the germs of physical 
disease and moral evil implanted in us by our pro- 
genitors, and avoid generating more of the same 
in ourselves. To do this we must cease those 
unphysiological habits of diet and regimen in gen- 
eral, and those impure habits of thought and feel- 
ing, in which such germs have their origin. In 
other words, we must learn the laws or conditions of 
pJiysical and moral health, and conform our lives to 
them. 

To be more specific, we must cease to ruin our 
stomachs and destroy our digestive powers by the 
use of indigestible hot bread, pastry, greasy food, 
complicated and highly spiced dishes, and all the 
many abominations of modern un-hygienic cookery. 
We must abstain from slop-fed swine's flesh, that 



172 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

prolific generator of scrofula and trichinoe, and from 
the flesh of all animals slaughtered in diseased 
conditions, or treated after slaughtering in such a 
manner as to fill it with disease-producing germs ; 
must also abjure those common narcotic and alco- 
holic beverages, which, under the guise of stimu- 
lating, only weaken and lower the tone of the 
nervous system, creating a demand for more and 
more of the same deceptive stimuli, until the unfor- 
tunate victim comes to imagine them " necessaries 
of life." We must beware, too, of inhaling the 
foul atmospheres of unventilated apartments, 
crowded assemblies, and miasmatic localities, 
which are full of morbific germs. And, on the 
other hand, we must learn to content ourselves 
with the simple, nutritious and healthful foods, 
chiefly from the vegetable kingdom (including, of 
course, the cereals, fruits and nuts), which experi- 
ence shows most conducive to bodily soundness, 
mental vigor and moral purity ; we must be much 
in the open air ; exercise duly all parts of the 
muscular system ; dress rationally instead of fashion- 
ably; bathe often and thoroughly, in order to rid 
the system of effete matters which become poison- 
ous by retention in the pores of the skin ; and, in 
short, must practice all those rules of hygiene 
which sanitary science has found requisite to the 
highest bodily health. So much, at least, must 
commend itself to the good sense of every reader. 
The matter of dress, above alluded to, is of far 
greater importance to general right living — not 



SOME SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS. 173 

merely during the period of pregnancy, but through 
all the previous life — than most people think ; so 
great, indeed, as to justify further remark in this 
connection. Any method of compressing the body 
about the waist, chest, or abdomen tends, as every 
one can perceive, to crowd the abdominal viscera 
down upon the delicate parts located in the pelvic 
region, producing irritation, inflammations, and 
various " female weaknesses." This devitalizes the 
organs of reproduction, and in greater or less de- 
gree unfits them for their proper function when 
called into use. It also greatly increases the labor 
and dangers of child-bearing. Besides, such com- 
pression, by either sex, interferes with the free 
circulation of the blood, tending to congest the 
pelvic organs, and thus to stimulate inordinate 
sexual excitement, leading to wasteful excesses. 
These tendencies are further aggravated by the 
wearing of an excessive amount of clothing about 
those portions of the body, as often required by 
fashion's dictates, keeping them at too high a 
temperature. Such fashions are unnatural and 
irrational, and will be discarded by all who are 
seeking a true life. 

It is plain to be seen that one who carefully re- 
gards these conditions of health stands in a far 
different relation to the life-giving, health-impart- 
ing forces of the universe from that occupied by 
one who, through a disregard of these conditions, 
is constantly thwarting the recuperative tenden- 
cies of nature, and is nourishing and adding to the 



1/4 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

morbid proclivities derived from ancestry. The 
former is co-operating with the beneficent forces 
of the universe on the side of health and improve- 
ment; the latter is continually antagonizing the 
same forces on the side of disease and depravation. 
In the former the tendencies to health are likely to 
become positive or ascendant, and hence more 
liable to be transmitted ; in the latter the pro- 
clivities to disease are kept in such constant 
activity that they are almost sure to reproduce 
themselves in offspring, and often with intensified 
force. 

But correet habits of diet and regimen are not 
the whole of right living. Thought and feeling 
should also be pure and elevated. There can be 
no question in minds well informed but that im- 
pure and unkind thoughts, debased, selfish and 
malevolent feelings cherished by any one, no mat- 
ter how secretly, generate a subtle poisonous 
virus, which envelopes the person, and is more or 
less imparted to all who come in contact. Persons 
of keen and pure sensibilities often scent these im- 
pure and malignant atmospheres, and instinctively 
shrink from their possessors, they may not know 
why. There are good reasons for believing that 
many physical diseases, or at least morbid tenden- 
cies, as well as moral perversities, have their origin 
in the subtle, malign influences of impure thought 
and evil passion. At all events, it is well known 
that cheerful good-will and generous affections 
tend to promote health of body and mind in their 



HOPE FOR ALL. 175 

possessor, and all about him ; while selfishness, 
hatred, revenge, and the like, tend in the opposite 
direction. All right and pure emotions are doubt- 
less in harmony with the life forces of the universe, 
and thus invite their salutary action upon the 
whole system ; while impure and malevolent feel- 
ings are discordant with nature, repellant to her 
divine forces, and conducive to disorder and 
misery. 

If the foregoing suggestions are well founded, 
then there is hope for all, based in the very consti- 
tution of things. Improvement for the individual 
and for the race is possible, and that without limit. 
The grand energies of the universe are in its favor. 
In our ills and weaknesses, our conscious basenesses 
and evil proclivities, inherited though they may 
have been from a long line of ancestry, we need 
not lie prone and helpless, with no alternative 
(except in rare instances) but either to transmit 
these hateful qualities to our offspring, or to refrain 
from the supreme joy of reproducing ourselves. 

Should such preparations for parentage as have 
been suggested in preceding pages be in any good 
measure attained, it is probable that results of a 
very desirable character would be realized without 
recourse to any detailed plan of embryo culture 
as outlined in what is to follow. But yet it is 
apparent that if these are succeeded by the wise 
and judicious use of such further means as are 
within the power of parents, and especially of 
mothers during gestation, still more complete 
results may be assured. 



176 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

The importance of order in the method employed 
has already been indicated. What that order shall 
be, the mother may doubtless infer, in a general 
way, by observing the order in which the several 
classes of faculties naturally unfold and arrive at 
maturity after birth, during the periods of child- 
hood, youth, etc. Let us then attempt a classifi- 
cation of human instincts and faculties in the 
general order of their development. This appears 
to be somewhat as follows : 

First. The Vital and Self-Preservative Instincts, 
which form the basis of individual existence, are 
the earliest to manifest themselves. The infant 
simply eats and grows. 

Second. The Domestic and Social Affections 
ordinarily come next into prominent activity. 
The child begins to love its parents and care- 
takers. 

Third. The Perceptive and Observing Faculties, 
with which are associated the Retentive and 
Recording, are next markedly developed. The 
child observes and remembers. 

Fourth. The Constructive and Beautifying 
Faculties next display themselves. The child 
shows a disposition to make things, and to orna- 
ment. 

Fifth. The Directive and Regulative Faculties, 
including the reflective intellect and the moral 
powers, come into activity. The youth begins to 
reason, and to feel strongly the force of moral 
obligations. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF ORDER. 1 77 

Sixth. The Humane or Philanthropic impulse 
asserts its sway ; and, 

Seventh. The Aspirational, Worshipful, or Up- 
ward-looking tendency usually comes latest to 
maturity, 

It is by no means claimed that human devel- 
opment in any case follows strictly this order, nor 
that it should be followed by mothers in any such 
rigid way as to exclude all attention to any one 
department out of the course named. On the 
contrary, the several steps or stages will merge 
more or less into each other, and some exercises 
will doubtless be at all times in place. But it is 
plainly out of natural order, for instance, to stim- 
ulate the activity of the reasoning faculties before 
the vital forces are well established, or even before 
the perceptive or observing powers have been 
duly cultivated. Such a process would be in 
reverse of the order of nature, and its tendency 
is to produce physical weaklings and intellectual 
dreamers, who incline to ignore the solid facts of 
existence and live in the regions of speculation. 
A vigorous body is desirable as the basis of a 
vigorous mind, and habits of accurate observation 
are an essential pre-requisite to sound reasoning. 

Again, it is evident that in any effort by a 
mother to cultivate her offspring in embryo 
through her own mental and physical action, she 
needs to give more especial attention to those de- 
sirable qualities, faculties or tendencies which may 
be deficient in herself, or in the father, and most 



178 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

especially such as may happen to be deficient in 
both. Those powers whose activity is in excess in 
either parent, and those also whose activity is 
spontaneous and easy, are likely to be transmitted 
without special effort. The more difficult it is, then, 
to exercise any desirable faculty in either parent, the 
greater the need of its exercise in the mother during 
gestation, in order that the offspring may not suffer 
from the deficiency. 

To give specific directions for the culture of 
each and every faculty, when deficient, would ex- 
tend this chapter far beyond its proposed limits, 
but a few general suggestions will enable the 
intelligent reader to clearly apprehend the method, 
and to make the application as required in the 
individual case. 

Every one can readily understand that any oft- 
repeated exercise of muscle or of mental faculty 
(unless over-done) tends to develop and strengthen 
such muscle or faculty. It does this in the 
mother, and, if the law of fcetal moulding has been 
correctly stated in the foregoing pages, it must 
have the same effect through the mother upon the 
embryo. For example, if the mother (at the 
proper stage in pregnancy) takes care to exercise 
her own muscles freely by walking, light gym- 
nastics, bathing, etc., the probabilities are, other 
things being favorable, that she will thereby not 
only improve her own health, but at the same 
time confer upon her child a vigorous muscular 
system. If she, at the proper time, exercises her 



CAUSE AND EFFECT. 1 79 

mind somewhat persistently, for example, in reck- 
oning- or calculating numbers, she will thereby 
increase her own arithmetical faculty, and simul- 
taneously increase the molecular deposits in that 
part of the fcetal brain which is the organ of calcu- 
lation, according to modern phrenology — at all 
events will be likely to confer upon her child the 
power to become a good arithmetician. If the 
mother spends any considerable portion of her 
time in philosophic study or thought, in efforts to 
understand the "whys and wherefores of things," 
she thereby exercises and expands her own cause- 
discerning faculty {Causality), and insures its ac- 
tivity in her offspring. So, if she practices 
thoughtful and unselfish kindness toward those 
about her, and is benevolent to the needy and 
suffering, she enstamps the same noble trait 
[Benevolence) upon the unborn ; and if she at all 
times firmly adheres to the right because it is 
right, she keeps her own conscience ever clear, 
and imparts to the coming one that priceless 
quality, Conscientiousness. So of all the other 
faculties. 

In short, reading, thought, conversation or any 
employment which occupies the mind in any 
special direction, and thus calls into prolonged 
exercise any specific faculty or set of faculties in 
the mother, must tend to modify the mental and 
cerebral development of the embryo in such a way 
as in all probability will determine, to a large ex- 
tent, its capacities and tendencies in all after life. 



180 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

The whole matter is thus simple and compre- 
hensible to the most ordinary capacity 

Where any one faculty or tendency is in excess 
of a well-balanced character, in either of the par- 
ents, and deficient in the other, it may reasonably 
be expected that the excess on the one side may 
be counterbalanced by the lack on the other — 
except when, as is sometimes the case, one parent 
overwhelmingly preponderates over the other in 
imparting the characteristics of the child — a result 
due, perhaps, to the possession of greater physical 
or mental vigor at the time of inception. 

Where the same faculties or tendencies are in 
excess in both parents, the probabilities are that 
the excess will be increased in the offspring to the 
extent, perhaps, of creating a deformity, or an un- 
desirable one-sidedness of character. In such a 
case, the propriety of restraint, instead of culture, 
would seem to be apparent. But it is suggested 
that such restraint may best be sought indirectly ; 
that is, by special efforts to cultivate and exercise 
the opposite or counterbalancing faculties, rather 
than to attempt repression by direct exercise of 
the will on the excessive tendency. For example, 
should the selfish proclivities or passions tend to in- 
ordinate activity, endeavor to cultivate and exercise 
more fully the faculties classed as Directive and 
Regulative — that is, the Reasoning powers, the 
Conscience and Benevolence. This will be level- 
ing up instead of down, thus making more of the 
whole man or woman by enlarging the better side. 



MOTHERS SHOULD KNOW THEMSELVES. l8l 

Besides, it is probable that fixing the mind upon 
any particular faculty or propensity, in an effort 
to repress its action by direct will-force, may tend, 
by sending the vital fluids to the cerebral organ 
of such faculty, to increase rather than diminish 
its activity ; whereas, the drawing of these fluids 
to other parts of the brain, by increasing the ac- 
tivity of the latter, will naturally lessen the action 
in those which it is desirable to repress. This, 
doubtless, furnishes the reason why efforts to over- 
come inordinate appetites by force of will are so 
seldom successful. 

Where deficiencies exist in the same faculties 
in both parents, of course there will be required 
more assiduous attention to the means of culture 
by the mother, if she would have these deficiencies 
supplied, and her offspring saved from the disa- 
bilities and misfortunes that are likely to result. 

If the foregoing suggestions are at all in the 
right direction, it plainly follows that it behooves 
all prospective parents, and especially mothers, 
who would confer upon their children healthful 
and well-balanced organisms, to first thoroughly 
know themselves. Not only should they intelli- 
gently understand their own respective physical 
conditions, as regards healthfulness, adaptation of 
temperaments, constitutional tendencies, etc., but 
also they should have a just estimate of their own 
mental powers and moral characteristics in all par- 
ticulars. And since few persons are competent to 
know themselves accurately in either of the above 



I 82 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

named respects, it is well to consult with intelli- 
gent and judicious friends, or with competent 
professional advisers, if such can be found, who 
are skilled in the detection of physical, mental and 
moral characteristics, and will faithfully point out 
both defects and redundances. It may be true 
that there are few persons now to be found in any 
of our communities who are fully qualified to give 
needed advice in these momentous matters ; but it 
is believed that as public attention shall be turned 
in this direction, and the want "become felt, such 
advisers will appear. 

The specific measures which seem adapted to the 
several successive stages into which embryo culture 
may be divided, in accordance with the suggestion 
already made regarding an orderly method of 
procedure. 

First stage. — It seems scarcely to admit of ques- 
tion that the first thing to be done, in the order of 
time, is to secure to the new immortal the basis of 
a good physical organization, with strong vital 
powers. If the parents, and especially the mother, 
have given proper attention to their own personal 
preparation in all respects, as hereinbefore sug- 
gested, a good beginning will have been made. 
But the mother should endeavor by all means to 
maintain throughout the whole period of gestation 
the best possible condition of bodily health and 
vigor. Neither too much labor nor care, nor too 
little, should be undertaken. During the earlier 
months, while the foundations, so to speak, of the 



THE FIRST STAGE. 1 83 

child's physical constitution are being laid, open 
air exercise, gymnastics, bathing, riding, travel, 
with the best diet, proper dress, cheerful compan- 
ionship — in short, everything that will contribute 
to the highest physical vigor — should be availed of 
as far as practicable. At later stages a greater 
amount of repose and seclusion is naturally sought, 
and travel and the more active forms of exercise 
cannot so well be participated in. 

The question, what constitutes the best diet dur- 
ing pregnancy, will be fully discussed in another 
chapter, and cannot be treated at length here. The 
good sense of every reader will suggest that the diet 
ought to be regulated, not by custom or fashion, 
or the dictates of a perverted appetite, but by 
a thoughtful and intelligent consideration of what 
is best adapted to supply the needs and promote 
the healthy functions of the organism, with special 
adaptations to the circumstances of the case. 

During the earlier stages of pregnancy, as well 
as at all subsequent periods, it is desirable that 
the mother have at hand, for frequent contem- 
plation, some of the best works of art, in statuary, 
or pictures, or both, as models of the beautiful and 
graceful in form, and of the amiable and noble in 
expression. Perhaps some one admired figure 
may be chosen, to be copied by the mother's won- 
derful electrotyping power in her living work of 
art ; but care should be taken that it be one in 
which goodness as well as physical beauty is bodied 
forth. 



1 84 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

In this is to be found one of the noblest uses of 
art ; and there can be no doubt that the works of 
the great masters have had more effect than the 
world imagines in producing and multiplying forms 
of beauty and manliness through impressions 
made on the minds of matrons. 

It is said that travelers in Italy, that land of 
paintings and sculpture, are often struck with the 
frequency with which the lovely features of the 
Madonna are to be seen in the faces of children of 
even the uncultured peasantry. When it is re- 
membered that almost every church and chapel in 
that country is provided with a representation of 
a Virgin and Child, from the hand often of some 
master of the noble art, and that these pictures are 
regarded with devout reverence by the common 
people, it is easy to see whence come those beau- 
tiful faces of Italian children. 

The several specific instincts or propensities of 
the Vital and Self-Preservative group, included in 
our first class, are, according to the phrenological 
system, termed as follows : i, Vitativeness, or love 
and tenacity of life ; 2, Alimentiveness, desire for 
an enjoyment of food ; 3, Destructiveness, or ex- 
ecutive power, ability to overcome obstacles ; 4, 
Combativeness, or self-defense; 5, Acquisitiveness, or 
disposition to own and accumulate ; 6, Secretiveness, 
tact, ability to keep one's own counsel. 

This analysis and these definitions, let it be re- 
marked, may be neither strictly accurate nor ex- 
haustive, yet they may answer practical purposes 



THE NOBLEST USE OF ART. 1 85 

until better can be furnished. And the same 
remarks apply to all the groupings and definitions 
to be hereafter given. The phrenological analysis 
and nomenclature of instincts and faculties is used 
here, not because it is entirely satisfactory, but be- 
cause it appears better adapted to the purpose in 
view than any other which the author has met 
with. 

It should be noted that none of the propensities 
above specified, when rightly defined, can be dis- 
pensed with in a fully rounded character. They 
are not evil in themselves, nor are their organs (if 
such exist) "bad organs," as some have supposed. 
It is their overplus, or over-action as compared 
with that of others, that is bad. A deficiency in 
any one of these basic instincts of human nature 
constitutes in that particular a weak and deficient 
character. 

Second stage. — Next in order after the vital in- 
stincts, and to some extent simultaneous with 
them, comes the development of the domestic and 
social affections, or the loves. These precede, in 
a general way, the manifestations of intellect. 
That is, the child ordinarily loves before it reasons 
to any extent. It would seem appropriate, there- 
fore, that the mother, before applying herself to 
special exercises for intellectual culture, should 
see to it that any deficiencies that may exist in the 
affectional department are provided against, as far 
as may be, by appropriate self-training. If her 
own personal affections are kept in lively and well- 



1 86 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

balanced exercise, she may expect that her off- 
spring will be well endowed in this department. 

The several divisions of the affectional group ol 
faculties recognized by phrenologists are the fol- 
lowing: i, Amativeness, or attachment to the op- 
posite sex; 2, Conjugality, desire to pair, or love for 
the partner ; 3, Parental Love (philoprogenitive- 
ness), or love of children and pets ; 4, Adhesiveness, 
(friendship), attachment to friends ; 5, Inhabitive- 
ness, love of home and country. 

Third stage. — -Next in natural order of promi- 
nent activity, appear to come the observing or 
perceptive powers, intimately associated with 
which are the communicative and the retentive or 
recording faculties. These, as designated by phre- 
nologists are : 1, Individuality, or power to indi- 
vidualize or distinguish and separately observe 
objects (the investigating faculty) ; 2, Form, or per- 
ception of shapes, outlines, memory of faces, etc.; 
3, Size, the power to notice and remember dimen- 
sions ; 4, Weight, or perception of forces ; 5, Color, 
appreciation and love of colors, tints, etc.; 6, Order, 
love of arrangement, system ; 7, Calculation, or 
perception of numbers and their relations (the 
arithmetical faculty) ; 8, Eventuality, memory of 
events, facts, dates, etc. (the historic faculty) ; 9, 
Locality, observation and memory of places, scen- 
ery, directions, etc. (the geographical faculty) ; 10, 
Time, sense of duration, capacity for punctuality ; 
1 1, Tune, the musical faculty ; and 12, Language, or 
the power of verbal expression. To these are 



THE PROGRESSIVE STAGES. 1 87 

closely related the five external senses— feeling, 
seeing, hearing, taste and smell. 

Deficiency in any one of these faculties is not 
desirable — in some it is a sad misfortune. 

Exercise for the culture of the observing and 
perceptive faculties, it is suggested, may properly 
commence about the third month ; and it is re- 
peated that special attention should be given to 
those which are lacking, or which are least in- 
clined to. spontaneous exercise, in the mother, or in 
both parents. 

Aids in the systematic culture of these faculties 
may doubtless be obtained from modern element- 
ary works on object teaching for primary schools 
and kindergartens, The defects of such works, or 
perhaps their entire absence, may be readily sup- 
plied by intelligent mothers, when they once un- 
derstand the thing to be done, and its importance. 

Fourth stage. — The next group of faculties, in 
order of normal development in life, embraces 
what have been termed the constructive and beau- 
tifying powers, sometimes designated as the semi- 
intellectual group. These in phrenological par- 
lance are named : 1, Constructiveness, or ingenuity 
(the building and mechanical faculty) ; 2, Ideality, 
love of the beautiful and refined (the poetical 
faculty) ; 3, Sublimity, sense of the grand and sub- 
lime ; 4, Mir tlif ulness, or love of pleasantry, wit. 
Under the same general division may be classed ; 5, 
Imitation, or the power to copy, represent, mimic ; 
and 6, Suavity, or agreeableness, blandness. 



1 88 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

Closely associated with this group are also the 
Reasoning and Reflective, and the Moral and 
Regulative faculties, all of which may be classed 
together as the Directive and Regulative group. 
These include what are phrenologically termed : 
i, Causality, or power to apprehend first principles, 
to trace causes, etc. ; 2, Comparison, or power to 
analyze, classify, and generalize ; 3, Human Nature, 
or sagacity in discernment of character; 4, 
Cautious7iess, or prudence ; 5, Continuity, power of 
consecutiveness or application ; 6, Approbativeness, 
regard for the good opinion of others, ambition ; 
7, Self -Esteem, or self-respect ; 8, Conscientiousness, 
love of right and abhorrence of wrong ; and 9, 
Firmness, or perseverance. 

Nothing need be said, to any intelligent reader, 
as to the importance of each and every one of 
these faculties, in due exercise, to the formation of 
a well balanced or perfect character; and the 
proper methods of their culture, respectively, are 
to some extent suggested by the names given 
them. 

Special exercises for the development in the 
foetus of the brain organs through which these 
faculties may manifest themselves, would seem to 
be in order after those adapted to the preceding 
group — say about from the fifth to the seventh 
month. 

Fifth stage. — In the last and highest group of 
human faculties — last and highest whether consid- 
ered with reference to their value in human char- 



THINGS TO BE AVOIDED. 1 89 

acter, or the period at which they ordinarily arrive 
at maturity in the individual and in the race — we 
find what may be classed as the Humanitarian or 
Beneficent, the Religious or Worshipful, and the 
Aspirational, Spiritual, or Upward-Looking pow- 
ers. These are designated as: 1, Benevolence, 
philanthropy, or universal love; 2, Veneration, 
reverence or worship ; 3, Hope, or cheerful expect- 
ancy ; 4, Spirituality, aspiration, prescience, faith, 
or power to apprehend spiritual realities, and to 
lay hold on unseen verities. 

These constitute, indeed, the crowning attri- 
butes of human nature. No character can be re- 
garded as complete and symmetrical in which they 
are not in full and harmonious exercise. If any of 
this group, as of the preceding, are deficient in 
either parent, the expectant mother cannot dis- 
charge her full duty to the unborn unless she 
make earnest efforts to supply the deficiency by 
self-culture before its birth. The definitions of the 
several faculties as given above will suggest the 
nature of the exercises by which such culture may 
be attained. 

While the faculties of this group should unques- 
tionably be at all times kept in full exercise for the 
parent's highest good, yet their special culture 
may well occupy attention during the final weeks 
of the gestatory period — say from the seventh to 
the ninth month, inclusive. 

Things to be avoided. — The prospective mother, 
in her efforts to improve herself and to worthily 



I90 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

endow her offspring, should by all means avoid 
anxiety, over-carefulness, an oppressive fear of 
mistake, and a painful sense of duty. These feel- 
ings would tend to enstamp upon the coming one 
an over-anxious, foreboding, painfully-careful dispo- 
sition, than which hardly a greater evil can be 
entailed. On the contrary, everything should be 
done with a cheerful delight, because its purpose 
is to confer blessings on an object of the tenderest 
affection, and it should be done with a joyful confi- 
dence as to the result. No greater blessing can be 
conferred than that of a cheerful, hopeful, helpful 
disposition, that delights in bestowing good upon 
others, and that meets all the vicissitudes of life 
with a calm trustfulness. And there can be no doubt 
that such characteristics are determined in a large 
degree by the mother's state during gestation. 

It hardly seems necessary in this connection to 
advert to the importance of avoiding all exercise 
of malevolent feelings, such as anger, envy, jeal- 
ousy, hatred, revenge, covetousness, or wrong 
desire of any nature, since all readers of the fore- 
going pages must understand the danger that such 
emotions, if indulged, may implant in the embryo 
the subtle germs, from which will grow in after 
years the bitterest fruits. 

Another thing important to be avoided, as far 
as practicable, by the mother, is the presence of 
disagreeable and unprofitable associates of either 
sex. The untoward mental and moral influence 
that may be excited through the mother upon the 



THE FATHER S DUTY. 191 

forming child, by the frivolous and unseemly con- 
versation of persons unappreciative of the nobility 
and grandeur of the work which occupies her — 
the effect of coarse, indelicate speeches and the 
like — can be readily^ understood. But beyond 
this, there may be persons whose atmospheres are 
repugnant, and from whom the matron feels 
an instinctive shrinking. On no account should 
she allow herself, or be permitted by others, to be 
tortured by the presence of such repulsive indi- 
viduals, whether as companions or domestics. 
There is reason to believe that the disagreeable 
characteristics of such repugnant persons are 
sometimes, by an occult law of transfer, enstamped 
upon offspring. At all events their influence can- 
not be otherwise than detrimental to the best 
devlopment of the embryo. 

It scarcely need be said that the father should 
take equal interest with the mother, for he is 
equally concerned in the object in view, namely, 
the production of noble and worthy offspring. 
Having given due attention to his own antecedent 
preparations, he may perform essential service in 
the proper development of the embryo before 
birth. He can accompany and assist the mother, 
to some extent at least, in the various exercises 
appropriate to the successive stages of its un- 
folding, provide the proper facilities therefor, so 
far as practicable, and he can lend his sympathy 
and encouragement at every step, guarding her 
against all untoward conditions or influences, and 



I92 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

thus helping to secure such a result as will be a 
source of mutual joy forever. 

If on the contrary, he manifests indifference, 
neglect, or untoward conduct of any kind, he may 
thwart and defeat the best efforts the mother can 
put forth, and may excite in her such feelings of 
depression, disappointment, grief, perhaps of re- 
pining, aversion, or disgust, as shall enstamp upon 
the child she is bearing characteristics which will 
prove a life-long burden or a curse. Many a child 
has been impressed before its birth with repug- 
nance and dread toward its father, caused by his 
selfish or harsh treatment of the mother during 
this critical period, which can never be fully over- 
come in after life. Such a child is robbed of its 
birthright in paternal affection, and such a father 
robs himself of the bliss of filial love and con- 
fidence. 

In addition to the traits of a well-balanced char- 
acter, it is doubtless desirable that parents should 
implant in each child a tendency to and aptitude 
for some special occupation or form of usefulness. 
Such an inborn tendency and aptitude greatly en- 
hance the probabilities of success in any pursuit 
that may be followed in life ; and the want of it 
often results in failure, poverty, vagabondism, and 
crime. 

But how may special tendencies and aptitudes 
be imparted ? The facts and suggestions already 
submitted clearly indicate the methods. Let the 
parents, during the ten or twelve months ante- 



THE INFLUENCE OF ASPIRATIONS. 1 93 

cedent to the birth of a child, interest themselves 
in, and prominently but cheerfully devote their 
minds to the occupation, profession, or department 
of human interest to which they wish to destine 
the child. If they cannot practically engage in 
the chosen occupation, they may yet think, talk, 
read and study about it, and perhaps take oppor- 
tunities to witness the labors of others who are 
engaged in it, and thus become conversant with its 
details. This, if done with pleasure and delight, 
can hardly fail of producing the desired result. 
In addition to all this is the power of aspiration. 
Let the mother cherish strong aspirations, breathed 
in earnest prayers, that her child may be what she 
desires. The psychological influence of such as- 
pirations at such a time cannot reasonably be 
questioned. No doubt, in the condition of recep- 
tivity or impressibility resultant from yearning 
aspiration, or some other adequate cause, in one or 
both parents, at the time of inception or subse- 
quently, is to be found the explanation of many 
cases of the occasional endowment of offspring 
with qualities far superior to what either parent 
has possessed. 

In so important an undertaking as the initiation 
of an immortal being, doubtless it is well to have 
due regard to times and seasons. Though the 
matter is one of much delicacy, yet these pages 
would be incomplete without some reference to it. 
In the animal kingdom we observe that, as a gen- 
eral rule, instinct leads to the bringing forth of 



194 PRE-NATAL CULTURE. 

young in the springtime, or in early summer. 
That seems to be Nature's chosen and orderly time 
for the ushering in of new life in all departments. 
Probably human beings may well give heed to an 
intimation so broadly given. 

To what grander achievement can either wo- 
man or man aspire than to be an artist in that 
noblest of arts, the moulding and rearing of im- 
mortal beings? Fadeless renown has crowned the 
efforts of gifted sculptors and limners in the past 
to portray the perfect ideal of the " human form 
divine." That field of high art is open to compar- 
atively few competitors — those fortunately en- 
dowed with rare genius. But there is a field of 
higher art, worthy of still greater honor — as much 
greater as the living perfect man is better than a 
senseless image. And this field is open to almost 
every one, even the humblest, through the means 
set forth in the foregoing chapter. Yes ! the god- 
like privilege is brought within the reach of the 
great mass of those now entering the prime of 
manhood and womanhood, as well as of those who 
have not yet passed its noon-time, of endowing with 
the noble gifts of genius their own sons and daughters, 
however lowly born. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN.* 



For ages, womankind has submitted, not al- 
ways uncomplainingly, it is true, but evidently 
without hope of any redemption from the pains 
and perils of maternity. The object sought in this 
chapter is to suggest such measures as will afford 
an assurance of safety and a mitigation, if not com- 
plete redemption, from such suffering. If woman 
was made for maternity, then it is evident that the 
proper exercise of this function should be attended 
by the highest health, enjoyment and happiness. 
That it is not so in any case indicates that some- 
thing is wrong, and that the kindly purpose of Na- 
ture has been thwarted at some point. There is 
little question that proper attention to the laws of 
health, as regards diet, regimen, clothing, etc., will 
secure to any well-organized and well-mated wo- 
man exemption from most, if not all, of the suffer- 
ings and dangers now usually considered incident 
to child-bearing. 

Doubtless, woman must endure some burdens 
and suffering to the end of time, but the accounts 
given by travelers ol the marvelous ease, quick- 

*The above is the title of a little book by M. L. Holbrook, M. D. 
(195) 



196 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

ness, painlessness and freedom from disablement 
with which many savage women bring forth chil- 
dren, are well known. There is abundant reason 
for believing that among some savage races neither 
pregnancy nor labor interrupts the usual avocations 
and movements of the mother, except, perhaps, for 
an hour or two at the birth itself. It is not, how- 
ever, so generally known that the records of med- 
ical observations contain accounts of a number of 
cases of almost equally complete contradictions of 
what is commonly considered a primal and uni- 
versal curse upon humanity. 

Dr. Tuke, a high authority, says : " Parturition 
itself, according to the general testimony of trav- 
elers interferes much less and for a shorter period 
with the healthy action of the body and mind 
among savage nations, than among the luxurious 
daughters of artificial life." 

Dr. Gaillard Thomas says : " Neither appre- 
ciation of, nor desire for physical excellence suffi- 
ciently exists among refined women of our day. 
Our young women are too willing to be delicate, 
fragile, and incapable of endurance. They dread 
above all things the glow and hue of health, the 
rotundity and beauty of muscularity, the comely 
shapes which the great masters gave to Venus de 
Medicis and Venus de Milo. All these attributes 
are viewed as coarse and unladylike, and she is re- 
garded as most to be envied whose complexion 
wears the livery of disease, whose muscular de- 
velopment is beyond the suspicion of embonpoint, 



TESTIMONY OF PHYSICIANS. I97 

and whose waist can almost be spanned by her 
own hands. As a result, how often do we see our 
matrons dreading the process of child-bearing, as 
if it were an abnormal and destructive one ; 
fatigued and exhausted by a short walk, or ordi- 
nary household cares ; choosing houses with spec- 
ial reference to freedom from one extra flight of 
stairs, and commonly debarred the one great ma- 
ternal privilege of nourishing their own off- 
spring. These are they who furnish employment 
for the gynecologist, and who fill our homes with 
invalids and sufferers." 

Dr. Dewees says : " Pain in childbirth is a mor- 
bid symptom ; that it is a perversion of nature 
caused by modes of living not consistent with the 
most healthy condition of the system, and that 
such a regimen as should insure such a completely 
healthy condition might be counted on with cer- 
tainty to do away with such pain." 

The great English scientist, Professor Huxley, 
says : " We are indeed fully prepared to believe 
that the bearing of children may and ought to 
become as free from danger and long debility to 
the civilized woman as it is to the savage." 

The following paragraphs, from one of the 
essays in Dr. Montgomery's classical work on 
Pregnancy, are interesting, as giving circum- 
stantial details of cases in illustration of the belief 
in the practicability of painless parturition: 

" In a letter to me, Dr. Douglas states that he 
was called about six A. M., September 26, 1828, to 
attend a Mrs. D., residing on Eccles street. 



I98 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

"On his arrival he found the house in the utmost 
confusion, and was told that the child had been 
born before the messenger was dispatched for the 
doctor. From the lady herself he learned that, 
about half an hour previously she had been awak- 
ened from a natural sleep by the alarm of a 
daughter about five years old, who slept with her. 
This alarm was occasioned by the little girl feel- 
ing the movements, and hearing the crying of an 
infant in the bed. To the mother's great surprise 
she had brought forth her child without any con- 
sciousness of the fact. A lady of great respec- 
tability, the wife of a peer of the realm, wa? 
actually delivered once in her sleep ; she immedi- 
ately awakened her husband, being alarmed at 
finding one more in bed than was before. I have 
elsewhere mentioned the case of a patient of mine 
who bore eight children without ever having 
labor pains. Her deliveries were so sudden and 
void of sensible effort that in more than one in- 
stance they took place under most awkward cir- 
cumstances, but without any suffering." 

Dr. Holbrook says : " Those women of savage 
nations who bear children without pain, live much 
in the open air, take much exercise, and are phy- 
sically active and healthy to a degree greatly 
beyond their more civilized sisters. These in- 
stances tend directly to prove that parturition is 
likely to be painless in proportion as the mother is 
physically perfect, and in a perfect condition of 
health. They certainly tend even more strongly 



EXPERIENCE OF ELIZABETH C. STANTON. 1 99 

to prove that pain is not an absolutely necessary 
attendant of parturition." 

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in a lecture to ladies, 
thus strongly states her views regarding maternity 
and painless parturition : 

" We must educate our daughters to think that 
motherhood is grand, and that God never cursed 
it. And the curse, if it be a curse, may be 
rolled off, as man has rolled away the curse of 
labor ; as the curse has been rolled from the de- 
scendants of Ham. My mission among women is 
to preach this new gospel. If you suffer, it is not 
because you are cursed of God, but because you 
violate his laws. What an incubus it would take 
from woman could she be educated to know that 
the pains of maternity are no curse upon her kind. 
We know that among Indians the squaws do not 
suffer in child-birth. They will step aside from 
the ranks, even on the march, and return in a short 
time bearing with them the new-born child. What 
an absurdity, then, to suppose that only enlight- 
ened Christian women are cursed. But one word 
of fact is worth a volume of philosophy ; let me 
give you some of my own experience. I am the 
mother of seven children. My girlhood was spent 
mostly in the open air. I early imbibed the idea 
that a girl is just as good as a boy, and I carried it 
out. I would walk five miles before breakfast, or 
ride ten on horseback. After I was married, I 
wore my clothing sensibly. The weight hung en- 
tirely on my shoulders. I never compressed my 



200 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

body out of its natural shape. When my first 
four children were born, I suffered very little. I 
then made up my mind that it was totally unne- 
cessary for me to suffer at all; so I dressed lightly, 
walked every day, lived as much as possible in 
the open air, ate no condiments, and took proper 
care of myself. The night before the birth of the 
child I walked three miles. The child was born 
without a particle of pain. I bathed it and dressed 
it myself, and it weighed ten and one-half pounds. 
The same day I dined with the family. Every- 
body said I would surely die, but I never had a 
moment's inconvenience from it. I know this is 
not being delicate and refined, but if you would 
be vigorous and healthy, in spite of the diseases of 
your ancestors, and your own disregard of nature's 
laws, try it." 

An abstemious diet, during the early period of 
pregnancy, is essential, as the habit of body, at 
that time, is usually feverish and inflammatory. 

A lady who is enciente may depend upon it that 
the less stimulants she takes at these times the bet- 
ter it will be both for herself and for her infant ; 
the more kind will be her labor and her recovery, 
the more vigorous and healthy will be her child. 

It is a mistaken notion that she requires more 
nourishment during early pregnancy than at any 
other time ; she, if anvthing, requires less. It has 
often been asserted that a lady who is pregnant 
ought to eat very heartily, as she has two to pro- 
vide for. When it is taken into account that during 



A MISTAKEN NOTION. 201 

pregnancy she ceases to menstruate, and that there 
is no drain on that score ; and when it is also con- 
sidered how small the ovum containing- the embryo 
is, not being larger for the first two or three 
months than a hen's egg, it will be seen how futile 
is the assertion. A wife in early pregnancy does 
not require more than at another time ; if any- 
thing, she requires less. Again, during pregnancy, 
especially in the early stage, she is unusually more 
or less sick, feverish, and irritable, and a super- 
abundance of food would only add fuel to the fire, 
and would increase her sickness, fever, and irrita- 
bility. Moreover, she frequently suffers from 
heartburn and from indigestion. Can anything be 
more absurd when such is the case than to overload 
a stomach already loaded with food which it is -not 
able to digest? No, let Nature in this, as in every- 
thing else, be her guide, and she will not then go 
far wrong! When she is further advanced in her 
pregnancy — that is, after she has quickened— her 
appetite generally improves, and she is much bet- 
ter in health than she was before ; indeed, after 
she has quickened, she is frequently in better health 
than she has ever been. The appetite is now in- 
creased. Nature points out that she requires 
more nourishment than she did at first, for this 
reason ; the foetus is now rapidly growing in size, 
and consequently requires more support from the 
mother. The food of a pregnant woman should 
now be increased in quantity, but let it be both 
light and nourishing. 



202 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

The food taken cannot be too plain ; highly 
seasoned dishes ought to be avoided. Koasted 
apples, ripe pears, raspberries, strawberries, 
grapes, tamarinds, figs, Muscatel raisins, stewed 
rhubarb, stewed or baked pears, stewed prunes, 
the inside of ripe gooseberries, and the juice of 
oranges, are particularly beneficial ; they quench 
the thirst, open the bowels, and help to make par- 
turition easy and painless. 

Within the past few years the theory has been 
advanced by physiologists that if a pregnant 
woman subsists upon food, the elements of which 
do not nourish and develop the osseous tissue, the 
cranial structure will thereby be rendered pliable, 
and labor thus be made comparatively easy and 
painless. In 1841 this idea was first advanced, in 
a small pamphlet published by a Mr. Rowbotham 
— a chemist, of London. His wife, in two previous 
confinements, had been a great sufferer, and he 
feared she would not survive the third. 

His theory was that, "in proportion as a woman 
subsists during pregnancy upon food that is free 
from earthy and bony matter, will she avoid pain 
and danger in delivery ; hence, the more ripe fruit, 
acid fruit in particular, and the less of other kinds 
of food, particularly of bread or pastry of any 
kind, is consumed, the less will be the danger and 
suffering in childbirth. 

"The subject of this experiment had, within 
three years, given birth to two children, and not 
only suffered extremely in the parturition, but for 



MRS. ROWBOTHAM'S EXPERIMENT. 203 

two or three months previous to delivery her 
general health was very indifferent, her lower ex- 
tremities exceedingly swollen and painful ; the 
veins so full and prominent as to be almost bursting; 
in fact, to prevent such a catastrophe, bandages 
had to be applied ; and for the last few weeks of 
gestation, her size and weight were such as to 
prevent her attending to her usual duties. She 
had on this occasion, two years and a half after 
her last delivery, advanced full seven months in 
pregnancy before she commenced the experiment 
at her husband's earnest instance ; her legs and 
feet were, as before, considerably swollen ; the 
veins distended and knotty, and her health dimin- 
ishing. 

" She began the experiment in the first week of 
January, 1841. She commenced by eating an 
apple and an orange the first thing in the morning, 
and again at night. This was continued for about 
four days, when she took just before breakfast, in 
addition to the apple and orange, the juice of a 
lemon mixed with sugar, and at breakfast two or 
three roasted apples, taking a very small quantity 
of her usual food, viz., wheaten bread and butter. 
During the forenoon she took an orange or two, 
and an apple. For dinner she took fish or flesh in 
a small quantity, and potatoes, greens and apples, 
the apples sometimes peeled and cut into pieces ; 
sometimes boiled whole with the potatoes ; some- 
times roasted before the fire, and afterward mixed 
with sus:ar. In the afternoon she sucked an 



204 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

orange or ate an apple or some grapes, and 
always took some lemon juice mixed with sugar or 
syrup. At first the fruits acted strongly on the 
stomach and intestines, but this soon ceased, and 
she could take several lemons without incon- 
venience. For supper she had again roasted 
apples or a few oranges, and rice or sago boiled 
in milk ; sometimes the apples, peeled and cored, 
were boiled along with the rice or sago. On 
several occasions she took for supper apples and 
raisins, or figs with an orange cut among them, and 
sometimes all stewed together. Two or three 
times a week she took a teaspoonful of a mixture 
made of the juice of two oranges, one lemon, half 
a pound of grapes, and a quarter of a pound of 
sugar. The sugar served mainly to cover the 
taste of the acids, but all saccharine matter is very 
nutritious. The object in giving the acids was to 
dissolve as much as possible the earthy or bony 
matter which she had taken with her food in the 
first seven months of her pregnancy. She con- 
tinued in this course for six weeks, when, to her 
surprise and satisfaction, the swollen and prominent 
state of the veins, which existed before she began, 
had entirely subsided; her legs and feet, which were 
also swollen considerably, had returned to their 
former state ; and she became so light and active 
she could run up and down a flight of more than 
twenty stairs, with more ease than usual when she 
was perfectly well. Her health became unwont- 
edly excellent, and scarcely an ache or a pain 



MRS. ROWBOTHAM'S EXPERIMENT. 205 

affected her up to the night of her delivery. Even 
her breasts, which, at the time she commenced the 
experiment, as well as during her former preg- 
nancies, were sore and tender, became entirely free 
from pain, and remained in the very best condition 
after her delivery also, and during her nursing." 

He continues : " At nine o'clock, after having 
cleaned her apartments, she was in the adjoining 
yard shaking her own carpets, which she did with 
as much ease as any one else could have done. At 
half-past ten she said she believed her 'time was 
come,' and the accoucheur was sent for. At one 
o'clock the child was born and the surgeon had left 
the room. He knew nothing of the experiment 
being made, but on being asked on paper by the 
husband two days afterward if he ' could pro- 
nounce it as safe and as easy a delivery as he gen- 
erally met with,' he replied on paper: ' I hereby 
testify that I attended Mrs. Rowbotham on the 
3d inst, and that she had a safe labor and more 
easy than I generally meet with.' On his asking 
the midwife if she thought it as easy as usual, she 
replied : ' Why, I should say that a more easy 
labor I never witnessed — I never saw such a thing 
and I have been at a great many labors in my 
time!' 

" The child, a boy, was finely proportioned and 
exceedingly soft, his bones resembling gristle. He 
became of large size and very graceful, athletic 
and strong as he grew up. The diet of his mother 
was immediately changed, and she ate bread and 



206 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

milk and all articles of food in which phosphate of 
lime is to be found, and which had been left out 
before. She also got up from her confinement 
immediately, and well. After her last delivery, 
July, 1838, full ten days elapsed before she could 
leave her bed, and then swooned at the first 
attempt; on this occasion, March, 1841, she left 
her bed the fourth day and not only washed, but 
partly dressed herself. Had she not been influ- 
enced by custom and somewhat timid, she might 
have done so sooner. To be assisted appeared 
like a burlesque to her, not to say annoyance. She 
had no assistance from medicine." 

In the former pregnancies she had subsisted 
very much on bread, puddings, pies, and all kinds 
of pastry, having an idea that solid food of this 
kind was necessary to support the foetus. Nutri- 
tious food can be had without that hard and bony 
element which is so large an ingredient of wheaten 
flour. Sago, tapioca, rice, etc., have little of it. 

Beans, rye, oats, barley, have not so much earthy 
matter as wheat ; potatoes and peas not more than 
half as mucli ; flesh of fowls and young animals, 
one-tenth; rice, sago, fish, eggs, etc., still less; 
cheese, one-twentieth ; cabbage, savoy, artichokes, 
coleworth, asparagus, rhubarb, cauliflower, celery, 
and fresh vegetables generally, turnips, carrots, 
onions, radishes, garlic, parsley, spinach, small 
salad, lettuce, cucumbers, leeks, beet roots, pars- 
nips, and all kinds of herbs and flowers, average 
less than one-fifth ; apples, pears, plums, cherries, 



MRS. ROWBOTHAM'S EXPERIMENT. 20/ 

strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, cranberries, 
blackberries, huckleberries, currants, melons, ol- 
ives, peaches, apricots, pineapples, nectarines, 
pomegranates, dates, prunes, raisins, figs, lemons, 
limes, oranges and grapes, on the average are two 
hundred times less ossifying than bread, or anything 
else prepared from wheat flour. Such articles as 
honey, treacle, sugar, butter, oil, vinegar and al- 
cohol, if unadulterated, are quite free from earthy 
matter. 

Mr. Rowbotham's idea originated from reading 
in the Penny Cyclopaedia, the following : 

" When first the human embryo becomes dis- 
tinctly visible, it is almost wholly fluid, consisting 
only of soft gelatine and pulp. In this gelatinous 
pulp solid substances are formed, which gradually 
increase, and are fashioned into organs. These 
organs, in their rudimentary state, are soft and 
tender, but in the progress of their development 
constantly acquiring a greater number of solid 
particles, the cohesion of which progressively in- 
creases, the organs at length become dense and 
firm. As the soft solids augment in bulk and 
density, the bony particles are deposited, sparingly 
at first and in detached masses, but accumulated 
by degrees. These too, are at length fashioned 
into distinct osseous structures which, extending 
in every direction until they touch at every point, 
ultimately form the connected bony framework of 
the system. The bony fabric, although soft, tender 
and pliable at first, becomes by degrees firm and 
resisting." Upon this he reasoned thus : 



208 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

" If the first visible state of the human being is 
that of a fluid, or soft, gelatinous pulp, and if the 
embryo or foetus gradually consolidates in firm- 
ness or density by the accumulation of bony 
particles, will it not, at any given period of its ex- 
istence, be more or less firm according to the bony 
matter which has been deposited ! And is not the 
mother's blood the source of this bony matter, 
since it builds, supports and nourishes the foetus? 
And is not the mother's blood derived from her 
food and drink ? And according to the proportion 
of bony matter existing in them, will not the foetus 
become more or less firm and resisting? 

" Moreover, he knew that it made all the differ- 
ence whether the foetus were in gristle or not, at 
birth, with respect to the pain. of labor ; and that 
it was better for the future size and beauty of the 
child, and even its strength, that it should be born 
with gristle and not with the bones hardened ; but 
that the latter process should be the consequence 
of its own food taken after birth. Hence, he very 
philosophically concluded to try the experiment 
of having his wife feed, during gestation, on sub- 
stances which did not hold a large proportion of 
phosphate of lime, which is the hard ingredient of 
bones ; but take those substances during her period 
of. nursing, and feed the child upon them during 
its growth. 

" The experiment succeeded by a partial trial 
in this morbid case, and in every case where the 
theory has been thoroughly tested, the results 



OTHER CASES. 209 

have been highly satisfactory. One lady who had 
learned from the pamphlet, said that from the first 
moment that she thought she was pregnant, she 
lived without eating any bread, potatoes or milk, 
but subsisted on sago, tapioca, rice, young meat — 
when she took meat — fruits of all kinds, and vege- 
tables, and drank tea and lemonade made with dis- 
tilled water. She said she never had an hour of 
nausea, or discomfort during her pregnancy; had so 
easy a labor that she thought it not worth dreading ; 
,and her boy, small and soft at birth, became 
unusually large, hard and strong, in six months. 
When born, he, like Mrs. Rowbotham's, was 
covered from head to foot with a downy sub- 
stance that could only be seen when held against 
the light, superior to the finest velvet, and of a 
beautiful feathery appearance. 

"Another, who governed herself wholly by the 
teachings of the pamphlet, never experienced a 
moment's discomfort before delivery. She took 
nothing made from our grains, but confined her- 
self to the West Indian ones — rice, sago, tapioca ; 
and taking a disgust to our summer fruits, sub- 
sisted largely on oranges, tamarinds, marmalades 
and also took a great many lemons. At first the 
fruits made her bowels too loose, but she did not 
abandon them on that account, but took mutton 
broth with rice in it to correct this effect. She 
had so little thirst that she drank nothing but a 
little tea, made with distilled water. In all cases 
she rigidly adhered to the fruit diet without a 



2IO PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

single day's exception ; her labors were short and 
comparatively painless; and her three children 
were splendid instances of large, healthy, strong 
and beautiful physique." 

Many cases might be shown here were it neces- 
sary, but those already quoted are sufficient to 
show what correct living, healthful exercise and a 
fruit diet strictly adhered to, will accomplish, and 
the reader is earnestly requested to ponder well 
and follow closely the teachings of these pages. 

While the fruit diet alone will accomplish much 
and go far toward making labor easy to be borne, 
there are other essentials that should not be neg- 
lected. Bathing and exercise are powerful aids; 
indeed, they are co-partners in acquiring the de- 
sired result. The bathing should be thorough and 
of everyday occurrence, as recommended in pre- 
vious pages ; the body should be thoroughly 
sponged with tepid water each morning, and a 
cool, quick sitz-bath be immediately taken, followed 
by a brisk drying of the parts with a moderately 
coarse Turkish towel. The vaginal canal must be 
kept thoroughly cleansed by tepid douche baths, 
and in the last days of pregnancy, both the sitz- 
bath and the vaginal douche should be taken 
warm, while in the early stages of labor, or in hard 
and lingering labors, they should be taken hot. 

Daily exercise, thorough and systematic, is 
equally as important a factor as the diet and the 
bath. In pleasant weather gentle walks in the open 
air and sunlight should be taken. Care must be 



DIET, BATHING AND EXERCISE. 211 

used that the patient, if delicate, be not fatigued. 
Thorough training, however, if begun in time will 
make the delicate woman strong, and the exercise 
which was before an effort will soon become easy 
and a pleasure ; the strength required he but a 
tithe of that possessed. Light gardening cannot 
be too highly recommended, and where possible, 
is very beneficial. Housework at this time also 
comes in for a good share of attention, and ought 
not to be neglected. Care should be taken in this, 
as in all exercise and work, that there is no 
straining or heavy lifting, no running up or 
down stairs, no shocks, fatigue, or over-exertion. 
This is eminently a period of home making, 
or nest building, and a woman's heart should never 
be lighter than when attending to the little wants 
that go to make home happy and a place of con- 
tentment and rest. 

She should see that the ventilation is perfect, 
that the whole house is well aired, and especial 
care should be taken to banish all mustiness, damp- 
ness and impurities from the sleeping room. The 
air should be cool and pure ; the sleep sweet and 
invigorating. The patient should retire early to 
bed and rest during the day when so inclined. 
The dress should be loose and the clothing hung 
from the shoulders. All pressure should be 
removed and the utmost freedom of action, both 
of body and limb, be secured. 

If the breath is short, exercise in deep breathing 
should be taken. Full breathing is necessary to 



212 PARTURITION WITHOUT PAIN. 

thoroughly oxygenize the blood. " To learn deep 
breathing be as passive as possible ; that is, assume 
a position in which all the voluntary motor muscles 
are inactive. Lie flat on the back, perfectly hori- 
zontal, without even an elevation of the head. 
Shut the mouth and draw the air in through the 
channel provided by nature, the nose. As a result 
of bad habits most persons will raise the upper 
ri-bs ; yet this expansion will soon yield to the 
movement of the lower ribs, and this again will 
gradually cease by continual practice, as will also 
every distension of the ribs. All these faulty 
movements will be superseded by a bulging out of 
the abdomen, whose outward swelling will be 
proportional to the amount of air inhaled. 

" Look at that quietly sleeping cat upon the rug. 
Its sole indication of vitality is the bellows-like 
motion of its body in breathing. You must also 
have observed, that in all domestic animals, at 
each respiration, an undulating motion extends 
quite through the whole trunk, and that this motion 
terminates only at the hindermost limbs. This is 
natural respiration as it is performed throughout 
quadruped existence. 

"Have you a perfectly healthy lady friend? 
Lay your hand upon her and you will find that the 
abdomen rises and falls in exactly the same way at 
every respiratory act ; not only so, but this act is 
involuntarily performed in a more profound man- 
ner every few moments, and that this increased 



FULL BREATHING. 213 

motion operates particularly upon the lowest por- 
tion of the trunk. 

" Observe in the same way your own person. If 
you are an invalid you will find this motion dimin- 
ished, perhaps suppressed. When half performed 
you only half live." 



CHAPTER X. 



CHILD-BIRTH. 



As the first labor is generally the most tedious 
and severe, it behooves a newly married woman 
to prepare for the coming event. Strict observ- 
ance of the advice contained in these pages will 
often make a first labor as easy and as expeditious 
as an after labor. 

A day or two before the labor commences the 
patient usually feels better than she has done for a 
long time ; she is light and comfortable ; she is 
smaller, and the child is lower down ; she is more 
cheerful, breathes more freely, and is more inclined 
to take exercise and to attend to her household 
duties ; she has often an inclination to tidy her 
drawers, and to look up and have in readiness her 
own linen, and the baby's clothes, and the other 
requisites for the long-expected event ; she seems 
to have a presentiment that labor is approaching, 
and she has the feeling that now is the right time 
to get everything in readiness, as in a short time 
she will be powerless to exert herself. 

Although the majority of patients, a day or two 
before the labor comes on, are more bright and 

(214) 



SYMPTOMS OF LABOR. 21 5 

cheerful, some few are more anxious, fanciful, 
fidgety and restless. 

A few days, sometimes a few hours, before labor 
commences, the child "settles," that is there is a 
subsidence — a dropping of the womb — lower down 
into the abdomen. These are the reasons why 
she feels lighter and more comfortable, and more 
inclined to take exercise, and why she can breathe 
more freely. 

The only inconvenience of the settling of the 
womb is, that the womb presses more on the blad- 
der,, and sometimes causes an irritability of that 
organ, inducing a frequent desire to urinate. 

At this time there is an increased moisture of 
the vagina, and of the external parts. She has, at 
length, slight pains followed by a "show," as it is 
called. The show is generally tinged with a little 
blood. When this takes place labor has actually 
commenced. Another early symptom of labor is 
frequent desire to relieve the bladder. 

She has now grinding pains, coming on at un- 
certain periods ; sometimes once during two hours, 
at other times every hour or half hour. These 
lancinating pains ought not to be interfered with ; 
at this stage, therefore, it is useless to send for a 
doctor, if he is near ; yet the nurse should be in the 
house, to make preparations for the coming event. 
Although at this early period it is not necessarv 
to send for the physician, nevertheless, it is well 
to let him know that his services might shortly be 
required, in order that he might be in the way, or 



2l6 CHILD-BIRTH. 

that he might leave word where he might quickly 
be found. 

These lancinating pains gradually assume more 
regularity in their character, return at shorter 
intervals, and become more severe. 

About this time, shivering, in the majority of 
cases, is apt to occur, so as to make the teeth 
chatter again. Shivering during labor is not an 
unfavorable symptom ; it proves, indeed, that the 
patient is in real earnest, and that she is making 
progress. 

Although the patient shivers and trembles, 
until, in some instances, the bed shakes under her, 
it is unaccompanied with real coldness of the skin ; 
she shivers and feels cold, but her skin in reality 
is not at all cold, but is hot and perspiring — per- 
spiring at every pore ! 

She ought not, on any account, unless ordered 
by the physician, to take brandy as a remedy for 
the shivering. A cup either of hot tea or of hot 
gruel will be the best remedy for the shivering ; 
an extra blanket or two should be thrown over 
the patient and well tucked around her, in order 
to thoroughly exclude the air from the body. As 
soon as she is warm and perspiring the extra 
clothing should be gradually removed, as she 
ought not to be kept very hot, or it will weaken 
her, and will thus retard her labor. 

Sickness frequently comes on in the beginning 
of the labor, and may continue during the whole 
process. She is not only sick, but she actually 



SYMPTOMS OF LABOR. 2\J 

vomits, and she can keep little or nothing on her 
stomach. 

There is, in such a case, little or nothing to be 
done, as the less an irritable stomach is meddled 
with, the better. The sickness will probably leave 
as soon as the labor is over. 

She had better, during this stage, either walk 
about or sit down, and not confine herself to bed ; 
indeed, there is no necessity for her, unless she 
particularly desire it, to remain in her chamber. 

If, at the commencement of labor, the "waters" 
should break, even if there is no pain, the doctor 
ought immediately to be sent for; as it is neces- 
sary that he should know the exact presentation 
of the child. 

After an uncertain length of time, the character 
of the pains alters. From being lancinating they 
become grinding, and are now more regular and 
frequent, and the skin becomes ■ both hot and per- 
spiring. These may be considered the true labor 
pains. The patient ought to bear in mind that 
"the true labor pains are situated in the back and 
loins ; they come on at regular intervals, rise 
gradually up to a certain pitch of intensity, and 
abate as gradually ; it is a dull, heavy, deep sort of 
pain, producing occasionally a low moan from the 
patienf ; not sharp or twinging, which would elicit 
a different expression of suffering from her." 

As soon as the pains assume a bearing-down 
character, the doctor ought to be in attendance ; if 
he is sent for during the early stage, when the 



2l8 CHILD-BIRTH. 

pains are of a lancinating character, and when 
they come on few and far between and at uncer- 
tain intervals, he can do no good ; for, if he attempts 
in the early stage to force on the labor, he might 
do irreparable mischief. 

Cramps of the legs and thighs are a frequent, 
although not constant, attendant on child-birth. 
These cramps come on more especially if the 
patient is kept for a lengthened period in one posi- 
tion ; hence the importance of allowing her, during 
the first and second stages of labor, to move about 
the room. Cramps are generally worse during 
the third or last stage of labor, and then, if they 
occur at all, they usually accompany each pain. 
The poor patient, in such a case, has not only to 
bear the labor-pains but the cramp-pains There 
is no danger in these cramps ; it is rather a sign 
that the child is making rapid progress, as he is 
pressing upon the nerves which supply the 
thighs. 

The nurse ought to well rub, with her warm 
hand, the cramped parts; and, if the labor is not 
too far advanced, it would be well for the patient 
to change her position, and to sit on a chair, or to 
walk about the room ; there being, of course, an 
attendant, one on each side, to support her. If 
either a pain or a cramp should come on while she 
is thus moving about, let her instantly take hold 
of some article of furniture for support. 

Child-birth is a natural process, and ought not 
to be interfered with, or woe betide the unfor- 



CHILD-BIRTH A NATURAL PROCESS. 2IQ 

tunate patient. I firmly believe that a woman 
would stand a much better chance of getting well 
over her confinement without assistance than if she 
had been hurried with assistance. 

In a natural labor very little assistance is needed, 
and the doctor is only required in the room occa- 
sionally, to ascertain that things are going on 
rightly. Those patients do best, both at the time 
and afterward, who are the least interfered with. 
Bear this in mind, and let it be indelibly written 
on your memory. This advice only holds good in 
natural confinements. 

Meddlesome midwifery cannot be too strongly 
reprobated. The duty of a doctor is to watch the 
progress of a child-birth, in order that if there is 
anything wrong, he may rectify it; but if the labor 
is going on well, he has no business to interfere. 

As a rule, it is neither necessary nor desirable 
for a doctor to be much in a lying-in room. In a 
natural labor, it is surprising how very little his 
presence is required. After he has once ascertained 
the nature of the case, which it is absolutely neces- 
sary that he should do, and has found all going on 
right and straight, it is better, much better, to allow 
nature time and full scope to take her own course 
without hurry and without interference, without 
let and without hindrance. Nature hates hurry, 
and resents interference. " 

Women are far more patient than men ; it is 
well they are, for men would never be able 
patiently to endure, as women do, the bitterest 
pangs of child-birth. 



220 CHILD-BIRTH. 

Bear in mind, then, that in every well-formed 
woman, and in every ordinary confinement, nature 
is perfectly competent to bring, without the assist- 
ance of man, a child into the world, and that it is 
only an ignorant person who would, in a natural 
case of labor, interfere to assist nature. Assist 
nature! Can anything be more absurd? As 
though God, in His wisdom, in performing one of 
His greatest wonders and processes, required the 
assistance of man. It might, with as much truth, 
be said that in every case of the process of healthy 
digestion it is necessary for a doctor to assist the 
stomach in the process of digesting the food ! No, 
it is high time that such fallacies were exploded, 
and that common sense should take the place of 
such folly. A natural labor ought never to be 
either hurried or interfered with, or frightful con- 
sequences might, and in all probability will, ensue. 
Let every parturient woman bear in mind that the 
more patient she is, the more kind and the more 
speedy will be her labor and her recovery. 

There are times, and times without number, 
when a doctor is called upon to do but little or 
nothing; and there are others — few and far be- 
tween — when it is imperatively necessary that he 
should do a great deal. 

It ought to be borne in mind, too, that tedious 
labors are oftentimes natural, and that they only 
require time and patience from all concerned to 
bring them to a successful issue. 

The first confinement is generally twice the 



DURATION OF CONFINEMENT. 221 

length of time of an after one, and usually the 
more children a lady has had, the quicker is her 
labor ; but this is by no means always the case, as 
some of the after labors may be the tedious, while 
the early ones may be the quick ones. 

It may be said that a first labor, as a rule, lasts 
six hours, while an after confinement probably 
lasts but three. This space of time, of course, does 
not usually include the commencement of labor 
pains, but the time that a lady may be actually said 
to be in real travail. If we are to reckon from the 
commencement of the labor, we ought to double 
the above numbers — that is, we should make the 
average duration of a first labor twelve ; of an after 
one, six hours. 

When a lady marries late in life — for instance, 
after she has passed the age of thirty — her first 
labor is usually much more lingering and tedious, 
demanding a great stock of patience from the pa- 
tient, from the doctor, and from the friends ; not- 
withstanding this, both she and her babe generally 
do remarkably well. Supposing a lady marries 
late in life, it is only the first confinement that is 
usually hard and lingering ; the after labors are as 
easy as though she had married when young. 

A natural labor may be divided into three 
stages. The first, the premonitory stage, compris- 
ing the "settling" of the womb, and the show. The 
second, the dilating stage, which is known by the 
pains being of a lancinating nature, and in which 
the mouth of the womb gradually opens or dilates 



222 CHILD-BIRTH. 

until it is sufficiently large to admit the exit of the 
head of the child, when it becomes the third, the 
completing stage, which is now indicated by the 
pains being of an expulsive character. 

In the first or premonitory stage, which is much 
the longest of the three stages, it is neither neces- 
sary nor desirable that the patient should be con- 
fined to her room ; on the contrary, it is better for 
her to .be moving about the house, and to be at- 
tending to her household duties. 

In the second and dilating stages, it will be 
necessary that she should be confined to her room, 
but not to her bed. She is better up, and walking 
about the room. 

In the first and second stages she must not, on 
any account, strain or bear down to the pains, as 
many ignorant nurses advise, as by robbing her of 
her strength, it would only retard the delivery. 
Besides, while the mouth of the womb is dilating, 
bearing down cannot be of the slightest earthly 
use — the womb is not in a fit state to expel its con- 
tents. If by bearing down she could (but, which 
fortunately, she cannot) cause the expulsion of the 
child ; it would, at this stage, be attended with 
frightful consequences — no less than with the 
rupture of the womb. 

In the third or completing stage it is necessary 
that she should lie in the bed, and that she should, 
as above advised, bear gently down to the pains. 
The expulsive pains will indicate when to bear 
down. 



SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF LABOR. 223 

Even in the last stage she ought never to bear 
down unless the pain is actually upon her ; it will, 
if she does, do her great harm. In bearing down 
the plan is to hold the breath, and strain down as 
though she were straining to have a stool. 

By adopting the above rules much weariness 
may be avoided ; cramp, from not being kept long 
in one position, may be warded off ; the labor, from 
being amused by change of room and scene, may 
be expedited ; and thus the confinement may be 
deprived of much of its monotony and misery. 

The pains of labor are sometimes heavy and 
dull, or what an intelligent patient of mine once, 
described as groany pains. They are occasionally 
sharp and cutting, while they are at other times 
boring and twisting. These are all expressive 
terms, as many labor patients will be able emphat- 
ically to indorse. 

During the latter stages of labor the patient 
ought always to keep her eyelids closed, or the 
straining may cause an attack of inflammation of 
the eyes, or at all events, make them blood-shot. 

Let a large room, if practicable, be selected for 
the labor, and let it be airy and well ventilated, 
and if in summer, take care that the chimney is 
not stopped. If the weather is intensely hot there 
is no objection to the window being a little open. 

If the bedstead is one with a fixed footboard a 
hassock should be placed against it, in order that 
the patient, during the latter part of the labor — 



224 CHILD-BIRTH. 

during the expulsive pains — may be able to plant 
her feet firmly against it (the hassock), and thus be 
enabled the better to aid her pains. 

If there is besides the bed, a straw mattress 
and a hair mattress, let the straw mattress be re- 
moved, as a high bed is inconvenient, not only to 
the patient, but to the doctor and to the nurse. 

Preparations for labor. — I should strongly urge 
a patient not to put everything off to the last. She 
must take care to have in readiness a good pair of 
scissors and a skein of thread. And she ought to 
have in the house a small pot of prepared lard, 
a flask of salad oil, and a cake of Castile soap, 
that they may be at hand in case they are wanted. 
Some doctors, at such times, prefer the prepared 
lard, while others prefer the salad oil. Let every- 
thing necessary, both for herself and the babe, be 
well aired and ready for immediate use, and be 
placed in such order that all things may be found, 
without hurry or bustle, at a moment's notice. 

Another preparation for child-birth, and a most 
important one, is attending to the state of the 
bowels. If they are at all costive, the moment 
there is the slightest premonitory symptoms of 
labor, she ought to take an enema of warm water. 
She will, by adopting the above plan, derive the 
greatest comfort and advantage ; it will prevent 
her delicacy from being shocked by having her 
bowels open, without her being able to prevent 
them, during the last stage of the labor ; and it 
will, by giving the adjacent parts more room, 



DRESS FOR THE OCCASION. 225 

much expedite delivery, and lessen her sufferings. 

The next thing to be attended to is the way in 
which she ought to be dressed for the occasio7t. I 
would recommend her to put on a clean night- 
gown ; which, in order to keep unsoiled, should 
be smoothly and carefully rolled up about the 
waist ; then she ought to have on a flannel petti- 
coat to meet it, and, over all, a dressing-gown. If 
it is winter, the dressing-gown had better either be 
composed of flannel or be lined with that material. 

The bed should be covered with a large piece 
of waterproof cloth, or bed-sheeting, as it is some- 
times called ; over this folded sheets ought to be 
placed. If a waterproof cloth cannot be procured, 
an oilcloth table cover will answer the purpose. 
Either of the above plans will effectually protect 
the bed from injury. 

The room should be kept, not hot, but comfort- 
ably warm ; if the temperature is high, the patient 
will become irritable, feverish and restless, and the 
labor will be prolonged. 

In order to change the air, let the door of the 
room, every now and then, be left ajar. If the 
weather is very warm the lower sash of the window 
may be opened a few inches. 

Many attendants are not only unnecessary but 
injurious. They excite and flurry the patient, they 
cause noise and confusion, and rob the air of its 
purity. One lady friend, besides tJie doctor and the 
nurse, is all that is needed. In making the selection 
of a friend, care should be taken that she is the 



226 CHILD-BIRTH. 

mother of a family, that she is kind-hearted and 
self-possessed, and of a cheerful turn of mind. 
All chatterers, croakers, and putter ers ought, at these 
times, to be carefully excluded from the room. No 
conversation of a depressing character should for one 
moment be allowed. Nurses and frie?ids who are in 
the habit of telling of bad cases that have occurred in 
their experience, must be avoided as the plague. 

Boisterous conversation during the progress of 
child-birth ought never to be permitted ; it only 
irritates and excites the patient. Although noisy 
merriment is bad, yet at such times gentle, cheer- 
ful and agreeable chat t is beneficial ; toward the 
conclusion of the labor, however, perfect quietude 
must be enjoined ; as during the latter stage, talk- 
ing, be it ever so little, is usually most distasteful 
and annoying to the patient. The only words 
that should then be spoken are a few words of 
comfort from the doctor, announcing, from time 
to time, that her labor is progressing favorably, 
and that her pain and sorrow will soon be con- 
verted into ease and joy. 

The attendants and all around a parturient 
woman must be patient, let the patient herself be 
ever so impatient — she has frequently cause for 
her impatience ; the bitter pangs of labor are 
oftentimes severe enough to make even an angel 
impatient. Not a note, then, of impatience must 
grate upon her ear* but words of gentleness, of 
encouragement, and of hope, must be the remedies 
used by those about her and around her to soothe 
her impatience. 



CHILD-BIRTH A NATURAL PROCESS. 227 

Another preparation for labor is — to soothe her 
mind by telling her of the usual safety of confine- 
ments, and by assuring her that, in the generality 
of instances, it is a natural process, and no disease 
whatever ; and that all she has to do is to keep up 
her spirits, to adhere strictly to the rules of her 
doctor, to have a little patience, and, that she will 
do remarkably well. 

All needless cause of fear must be kept out of 
sight. Labor is, as a rule, perfectly safe and 
natural ; and confidence and cheerfulness are two 
of the grand remedies to bring it to a happy con- 
clusion. 

Brandy ought always to be in the house ; but 
let me impress upon the minds of the attendants 
the importance of withholding it from the patient 
unless ordered by the doctor. Numbers have 
fallen victims to its being indiscriminately given. 
1 am of the opinion that the great caution which 
is now adopted in giving spirits to women in labor 
is one reason, among others, of the great safety of 
the confinements of the present day compared 
with those of former times. 

Brandy is, in cases of flooding, of exhaustion, 
of fainting, or any other emergency, indispensable. 
But brandy should be considered as a medicine 
— as a valuable but powerful medicine— and, like 
all powerful medicines, should be prescribed by 
a doctor, and by a doctor only ; who will indi- 
cate the fit time and proper dose on the adminis- 
tration thereof. If this advice is not strictly fol- 



228 CHILD-BIRTH. 

lowed, deplorable consequences may ensue. 
Brandy, according to the way it is used, is either 
a faithful friend or a bitter enemy ! 

The best beverage for a patient during labor is 
either a cup of warm tea, or of gruel, or of arrow- 
root. It is folly in the extreme, during the pro- 
gress of labor, to force her to eat ; her stomach 
recoils from it, as at these times there is generally 
a loathing for food, and if we will, as we always 
should, take the appetite as our guide, we shall 
never go far wrong. 

Chloroform in hard and in lingering labor. — 
Mothers and doctors are indebted to Sir James 
Simpson for the introduction of chloroform, one 
of the greatest and most valuable discoveries ever 
conferred on suffering humanity. 

The inhalation of chloroform, according to the 
will of the operator, causes either partial or com- 
plete unconsciousness, and, either for a longer or 
for a shorter time, freedom from pain. In other 
words, the effects might, with perfect safety, be 
continued, either for a few minutes, or from time 
to time, for several hours ; indeed, if given in 
proper cases, and by a judicious doctor, with 
immense benefit, and with perfect safety. 

Chloroform is more applicable and useful in a 
labor — more especially in a first confinement — 
when it is lingering, when the throes are very 
severe, and when, notwithstanding the pain, the 
labor is making but little progress — then chloroform 
is a priceless boon. Chloroform too, is, when the 



VALUE OF CHLOROFORM. 22Q 

patient is of a nervous temperament, and when she 
looks forward with dread and apprehension to 
every pain, very beneficial. 

It may be asked — Would you give chloroform 
in every case of labor, be it ever so easy and quick? 
Certainly not ; it is neither advisable nor expedient 
in an ordinarily easy, quick confinement to admin- 
ister it. The cases in which it is desirable to give 
chloroform are all lingering, hard and severe 
labors ; in such I would gladly use it. But, before 
administering it, I would, as a rule, wait for at 
least six hours from the commencement of the 
true pains. 

It may be asked — Does the inhalation of chloro- 
form retard the patient's recovery ? I emphatically 
declare that it does not. Those who have had 
chloroform have always, in my practice, had as 
good and as speedy recoveries as those who have 
not inhaled it. 

Another important consideration in the giving 
of chloroform is, that a patient has seldom, if ever, 
ivhile under the effects of it, been known to die. 

One reason why it may be so safe to give 
chloroform in labor is, that in the practice of mid- 
wifery a doctor does not deem it needful to put 
his patient under the extreme influence of it. He 
administers just enough to ease her pain, but not 
sufficient to rob her of total consciousness ; while 
in a surgical operation the surgeon may consider 
it necessary to put his patient under the full in- 
fluence of chloroform ; hence the safety in the one, 



230 CHILD-BIRTH. 

and the danger in the other case. "It is quite 
possible to afford immense relief to render the 
pains quite bearable," as a patient of mine ob- 
served, by a dose which does not procure sleep or 
impair the mental condition of the patient, and 
which all our experience would show is absolutely 
free from danger. 

There is another advantage in chloroform — 
the child, when he is born, is usually both lively 
and strong, and is not at all affected by the mother 
having had chloroform administered to her. This 
is a most important consideration. So highly do I 
think of chloroform, that I never take charge of 
a case of confinement without a bottle in my 
pocket. I find this plan very convenient, as I am 
then in proper cases, always prepared to give 
chloroform, and there is no precious time wasted 
in sending for it. 

Chloroform ought never to be administered, 
either to a patient in labor or to any one else, 
except by a doctor. This advice admits of no ex- 
ception. And chloroform should never be given 
unless in a lingering or a hard labor. As I have 
before advised, in a natural and easy labor, Nature 
ought not to be interfered- with, but should be al- 
lowed to run its own course. Patience, gentleness, 
and non-interference are the best and the chief 
requisites in the majority of cases. 

Hints to attendants in case the doctor is unavoidably 
absent. — It frequently happens that after the first 
confinement the labor is so rapid that the child is 



HINTS TO ATTENDANTS. 23 1 

born before the doctor has time to reach the pa- 
tient. It is consequently highly desirable — nay, 
imperatively necessary — for the interest and for 
the well-doing both of the mother and of the babe, 
that either the nurse or the lady friend, should in 
such an emergency, know what to do and what 
NOT to do. 

In the first place, let the attendants be both 
calm and self-possessed, and let there be no noise, 
no scuffling, no excitement, no whispering, and 
no talking, and let the patient be made to thor. 
oughly understand that there is not the slightest 
danger, as the principal danger will be in causing 
unnecessary fears, both as to herself and her child : 
— " A woman, naturally born to fears, is, at these 
times, especially timid." Tens of thousands are 
annually delivered without the slightest assistance 
from a physician — and yet both mother and babe 
almost invariably do well. Let her be informed 
of this fact, and it will be a comfort to her, and 
will assuage her fears. The physician, as soon as 
he arrives, will soon make all right and straight. 

In the meantime let the following directions be 
followed : — Supposing a child be born before the doc- 
tor arrives, the nurse ought to ascertain whether 
a coil of navel string is around the neck of the 
infant; if so, it must be instantly liberated, or he 
might be strangled. Care should be taken that he 
has sufficient room to breathe ; that there is not a 
membrane over his mouth ; and that his face is not 
buried in the clothes. Any mucus about the 



232 CHILD-BIRTH. 

mouth of the babe ought to be wiped away with a 
soft napkin, or it might impede the breathing. 

If the babe should be born apparently dead, a 
few smart blows must be given on the thighs and 
on the back ; a smelling bottle ought to be applied 
to the nostrils ; or a bit of cloth should be singed 
under the nose, taking care that the burning tin- 
der does not touch the skin ; and cold water must 
be freely sprinkled on the face. But after all, a 
good smacking on the thighs, in an apparently 
still-born babe, is the most handy, quick, and ready 
remedy. Thousands of apparently still-born chil- 
dren have, by this simple remedy, been saved from 
threatened death. If you can once make an ap- 
parently still-born babe cry — and cry he must — he 
is, as a rule, safe. The navel string, as long as 
there is pulsation in it, ought not to be tied. 

The limbs, the back, and the chest of the child 
ought, with the warm hand, to be well rubbed. 
The face should not be smothered up in the 
clothes. If pulsation has ceased in the navel 
string (the above rules having been strictly fol- 
lowed, and having failed), let the navel string be 
tied and divided, and then let the child be plunged 
into warm water — 98 °- Fahr. If the sudden plunge 
does not rouse respiration into action, let him be 
taken out of the warm bath, as keeping him for 
any length of time in the water will be of no avail. 

If these simple means should not quickly suc- 
ceed, although they generally will, Dr. Marshall 
Hall's Ready Method ought to be tried : — " Place 



HOW TO RESTORE ANIMATION. 233 

the infant on his face ; turn the body gently but 
completely on the side and a little beyond, and then 
on the face alternately ; repeating these measures 
deliberately, efficiently, and perseveringly, fifteen 
times in the minute only." 

Another plan of restoring suspended animation 
is by artificial respiration, which should be em- 
ployed in the following manner : — Let the nurse 
close with her left hand, the child's nose, to pre- 
vent any passage of air through the nostrils ; 
then let her apply her mouth to the child's mouth, 
and breathe into it, in order to inflate the lungs ; 
as soon as they are inflated, the air ought, with 
the right hand, to be pressed out again, so as to 
imitate natural breathing. Again and again, for 
several minutes, and for about fifteen times a min- 
ute, should the above process be repeated ; and 
the operator will frequently be rewarded by hear- 
ing a convulsive sob, which will be the harbinger 
of renewed life. 

Until animation is restored, the navel string 
ought not to be tied, so long as it pulsates. If tied 
before the child breathes, he will have but a slight 
chance of recovery. While the navel string is left 
entire, provided it still pulsates, he has the ad- 
vantage of the mother's circulation and support. 

Should the child have been bom for some time 
before the doctor has arrived, it may be necessary to 
tie and divide the navel string. A iigature,*com- 
posed of four or five threads, nearly a foot in 
length, and with a knot at each end, cfught to be 



234 CHILD-BIRTH. 

tightly tied around the navel string, about two 
inches from the body of the child. A second 
ligature must, in a similar manner, be applied 
about three inches from the first, and the navel 
string should be carefully divided midway between 
the two ligatures. If the doctor is shortly ex- 
pected, any interference would not be advisable, as 
such matters ought always to be left entirely to 
him. 

The after-birth must never be brought away by the 
nurse. If the doctor has not yet arrived, it should 
be allowed to come away (if left alone it usually 
will) of its own accord. The only treatment that 
the nurse ought to adopt is, to apply firm pressure 
with the hands over the region of the womb. 
This will have the effect of encouraging the con- 
traction of the womb, of throwing off the after- 
birth, and of preventing violent flooding. 

If the after-birth does not soon come away, say 
in an hour, or if there is flooding, another doctor 
ought to be sent for ; but on no account should the 
nurse be allowed to interfere with it further than 
by applying firm pressure over the region of the 
womb, and not touching the navel string at all. I 
have known dangerous, and in some cases, even 
fatal, consequences to ensue from such meddling. 

Rest after delivery. — The patient, for at least an 
hour after the delivery, ought not to be disturbed, 
or violent flooding may be produced. The soiled 
napkins may be removed and clean ones put in 
their plac*. Her head ought to be made easy ; she 



REST AFTER DELIVERY. 235 

must still lie on her side ; indeed, for the first hour, 
let her remain nearly in the same position as that 
in which she was confined, with this only differ- 
ence, that if her feet have been pressing against 
the bed-post, they should be removed irom that 
position. 

A patient, after delivery, usually feels shivering 
and starved ; it will therefore be necessary to throw 
additional clothing, such as a blanket or two, over 
her, which ought to envelope the body, and should 
be well tucked around her; but the nurse ought 
to be careful not to overload her with clothes, or 
it might produce flooding, fainting, etc. As soon 
as she is warm, let the extra clothing be gradually 
removed. If the feet are cold let them be wrapped 
in warm flannel, over which a pillow should be 
placed. 

A frequent change of linen after child-birth is 
desirable. Nothing is more conducive to health 
than cleanliness. Great care should be taken to 
have the sheets and linen well aired. 

A foolish nurse fancies that clean linen will give 
her patient cold, and that dirty linen will prevent 
it, and keep her warm. Such folly is most dan- 
gerous ! A parturient woman should bear in mind 
that dirt breeds fever, and fosters infectious dis- 
eases. There would, if cleanliness (of course I 
include pure water in this category) and ventilation 
were more observed than they are, be very little 
fever, or infectious diseases of any kind in the 
world. 



236 CHILD-BIRTH. 

A cup of cool, black tea, directly after the 
patient is confined, ought to be given. I say cool, 
not cold, as cold tea might chill her. Hot tea 
would be improper, as it might induce flooding. 
As soon as she is settled in bed, there is nothing 
better than a small basin of warm gruel. 

Brandy ought never to be given after a con- 
finement ; indeed, stimulants of all kinds must be 
carefully avoided, as they produce fever, and 
inflammation. 

Ba?idage after labor. — This consists of thick linen, 
similar to sheeting, about a yard and a half long, 
and sufficiently broad to comfortably support the 
abdomen. Two or three folded diapers — folded 
in a triangular shape — should be first applied over 
the region of the womb, and then the bandage 
should be neatly and smoothly applied around the 
lower portion of the abdomen to keep the diapers 
firmly fixed in their position. The bandage ought 
to be put on moderately tight, and should be 
retightened every night and morning, or oftener, 
if it becomes slack. An Obstetric Binder is 
admirably adapted to give support after a con- 
finement, and may be obtained of any surgical 
instrument maker. If there is neither a proper 
bandage or binder at hand — a yard and a half of 
unbleached calico, folded double, will answer the 
purpose. The best pins to fasten the bandage are 
the patent safety pins. 

A support after labor is important ; in the first 
place, it is a great comfort ; in the second, it 



BANDAGE AFTER LABOR. 237 

induces the abdomen to return to its original size ; 
and lastly, it prevents flooding. Those women, 
more especially if they have had large families, 
who have neglected proper bandaging after their 
confinements, frequently suffer from enlarged and 
pendulous abdomens, which give them an unwieldy 
and ungainly appearance ; indeed, completely ruin- 
ing their figures. 

The patient ought not, immediately after a labor, 
under any pretext or pretense whatever, to be 
allowed to raise herself in bed. If dressed as 
recommended in a previous paragraph, her soiled 
linen may readily be removed ; and she may be 
drawn up by two assistants to the proper place, 
as she herself must not be allowed to use the slightest 
exertion. Inattention to the above recommendation 
has sometimes caused violent flooding, fainting, 
falling of the womb, etc., and in some cases, even 
fatal consequences. ! 

A nurse is too apt, after the confinement is 
over, to keep a large fire. Nothing is more injur- 
ious. A little fire, providing the weather is cold, 
to dress the baby by, and to encourage a circula- 
tion of the air, is desirable. The door, in order 
to change the air of the apartment, must occa- 
sionally be left ajar. The patient requires pure 
air as much as or more than any other person ; but 
how frequently does a silly nurse fancy that it is 
dangerous for her to breathe it ! 

After the labor is over, the blinds ought to be 
put down, and the window curtains should be 



238 CHILD-BIRTH. 

drawn in order to induce the patient to sleep, and 
thus to rest herself after her hard work. Perfect 
stillness must reign both in the room and in the 
house. This advice is most important. 

It is really surprising, in this present enlight- 
ened age, how much ignorance there still is among 
the attendants of a lying-in room ; they fancy labor 
to be a disease, instead of being what it really is — 
a natural process, and that old-fashioned notions, 
and not common sense, ought to guide them. 

The patient should, after the birth of her child, 
be strictly prohibited from talking, and noisy con- 
versation ought not to be allowed ; indeed, she 
cannot be kept too quiet, as she may then be 
induced to fall into a sweet sleep, which would 
recruit her wasted strength. As soon as the babe 
has been washed and dressed, and the mother 
made comfortable in bed, the nurse ought alone to 
remain; let every one else be banished from the 
room. Visitors should on no account be allowed 
to see the patient. Perfect rest is most essential 
to recovery, and is the best of medicines. 

Before going to sleep, if there is the slightest 
inclination to urinate, it should be promptly re- 
sponded to by the patient. This will make her 
more comfortable, and the sleep more sweet. Let 
me urge the importance of performing this func- 
tion while in a lying position. I have known 
violent flooding to result from allowing the patient 
to sit up while obeying the demands of nature. 

The bed pan (previously warmed by dipping it 



TREATMENT OF THE BOWELS. 239 

in very hot water and then quickly drying it) 
ought to be used for some days after confinement. 
It is admirably adapted for the purpose, as it takes 
up but little room, and is conveniently shaped, and 
readily slips under the patient, and enables her to 
make water comfortably, she being perfectly 
passive the while. It should be passed under her 
in the front, and not at the side of the body. 

The bowels -- After a confinement the bowels are 
usually costive. This confined state of the bowels 
after labor, is doubtless a wise provision of nature, 
in order to give repose to the surrounding parts — 
especially to the womb; it is well, therefore, not to 
interfere with them, but to let them have for three 
days perfect rest. Sometimes, before the expira- 
tion of the third day, the bowels are relieved by 
taking a cup of warm coffee. If such is the case, 
all well and good ; as it is much better that 
the bowels should be relieved without medicine 
than with medicine ; but if, having taken the coffee, 
at the end of the third day they are not opened, 
then early on the following day let the nurse ad- 
minister an enema of warm water — a pint each time. 
This is an excellent, indeed the best, method of 
opening the bowels, as it neither interferes with 
the appetite nor with the digestion ; it does away 
with the nauseousness of castor oil, and does not, 
in the administration, give the slightest pain. If 
the first enema should not have the desired effect, 
let one be given every quarter of an hour until 
relief is obtained. One of the best for the pur- 



240 CHILD-BIRTH. 

pose — if the warm water is not sufficiently active 
is the following : — 

Take of — Olive oil, two tablespoonfuls ; 

Table salt, two tablespoonfuls ; 
Warm oatmeal gruel, one pint ; 
To make a clyster. 

Another capital enema for the purpose is one made 
of Castile soap dissolved in warm water. But if 
the water is sufficient for the purpose, so much the 
better — it is far preferable to either of the others. 
Remedies, providing they are effectual, cannot be 
too simple; and all that is usually required in such 
cases is, to wash the bowels out, which, as a rule, 
the warm water is of itself quite able to do. It is 
therefore desirable, before any other more compli- 
cated enema be used, simply to try the warm 
water only. 

If the patient object to the administration of an 
enema, then either a teaspoonful of calcined mag- 
nesia, mixed in a little water, or the following 
draught, will be found useful ; either will act 
kindly, and will neither gripe the mother nor the 
child: 

Concentrated Essence of Senna, half an ounce; 
Syrup of Ginger, one dram; 
Pure Water, seven drams ; 
To make a draught. To be taken early in the morning. 

If in twelve hours the above draught should 
not have the desired effect, let the draught be re- 
peated. If the bowels are easily moved, half of 
the above draught is usually sufficient. Or, one 
or two teaspoonsful of an electuary of figs, raisins 



TREATMENT OF THE BOWELS. 241 

and senna may be eaten early in the morning* — 
but let every parturient woman bear in mind that 
as soon as her bowels will act, either naturally or 
by the taking of a cupful of warm coffee, or by the 
administration of a warm water enema, not a 
particle of medicine should be swallowed. Much 
laxative medicine is an abomination. 

An enema is, both during nursing and during 
pregnancy, an admirable method of opening 
costive bowels, and deserves to be more universally 
followed than it now is ; fortunately, the plan is 
making rapid progress, and shortly will entirely 
supersede the necessity of administering cathartic 
drugs. Aperients are a clumsy and roundabout 
way of opening costive bowels, and sometimes 
harass the patient exceedingly. The lower bowel, 
and not the stomach, needs emptying ; the stomach 
should be left alone, and not be worried by ca- 
thartics. The stomach has its proper work to do, 
namely, to digest the food put into it, and which 
function aperients sadly interfere with. Hence 
the great value of an enema, and of keeping the 
bowels regular, when possible, by fruit and not 
by physic, by gentleness and not by violence. 

The cleansings. — This watery discharge occurs 
directly after a confinement, and lasts a week or 
ten days, and sometimes even longer. It is of 
a reddish color, which gradually changes to a 
brownish hue, and afterward to a greenish shade ; 
hence the name of "green waters." It has in some 

, i 

*See p. 113. 
16 



242 CHILD-BIRTH. 

cases a disagreeable odor. A moderate discharge 
is necessary ; but when it is profuse it weakens the 
patient. 

Some ignorant nurses object to having the 
parts bathed after delivery ; they have the im- 
pression that such a proceeding would give cold. 
Warm fomentations twice a day, and even oftener, 
either if the discharge or if the state of the parts 
require it, are absolutely indispensable to health, 
cleanliness, and comfort. Cleanliness at these 
times is far more necessary than at any other period 
of a woman's existence. Neglecting to bathe the 
parts at these times is shameful, and leads to 
miserable consequences. 

There is nothing better for the purpose than a 
soft sponge and warm water, unless the parts are 
very sore ; when this is the case, a warm fomen- 
tation, two or three times a day, of marshmallows 
and camomile,* will afford great relief ; or the 
parts may be bathed with warm, well-made and 
well-boiled oatmeal gruel, of course without salt. 
The parts ought, after each fomentation, to be 
well, but quickly, dried with warm, dry, soft 
towels, and after the bathing and the drying, 
should, by means of a piece of soft linen be well 
anointed with warm salad oil. Warm salad oil 
for this purpose is a most soothing, healing, and 
comfortfng dressing, and is far superior to all ani- 
mal oils. 

*Boil two handfuls of marshmallows and two handfuls of camo- 
mile blows in two quarts of water for a quarter of an hour, and strain- 



REST AFTER DELIVERY. 243 

The internal parts should be well syringed out 
with either of the above remedies two or three 
times a day. 

Let the above rules be strictly followed. Let 
no prejudices stand in the way of the above advice. 
Bathing of the parts after confinement, and that 
frequently, is absolutely required, or evil results 
will ensue. 

Notwithstanding the great good that results 
from exercise and the " fruit diet," in confinement, 
I would urge my reader, despite her inclination to 
be up and about, to remain quiet in bed for a few 
days after labor. 

The womb requires rest, and the only way to 
obtain it is by remaining in bed for the first five or 
six days. After this the patient may safely be re- 
moved for a short period of the day either to 
another bed or to a sofa. She should be trans- 
ferred by two assistants, one taking hold of her 
shoulders and the other of her hips, and thus lift- 
ing her from one bed to the other. 

The above plan may appear irksome, but my ex- 
perience tells me that it is necessary, absolutely 
necessary. The benefit the patient will ultimately 
reap from it will amply repay the temporary an- 
noyance of so much rest. 

Poor women who go about too soon after their 
confinements frequently suffer from falling of the 
womb. An abundance of exercise during preg- 
nancy, and perfect rest for a few days after labor, 
cannot be too strongly insisted upon. 



244 CHILD-BIRTH. 

Falling of the womb is a disagreeable complaint, 
and the misfortune of it is, that every additional 
child increases the infirmity. In the majority of 
cases this trouble might have been prevented, if 
the recumbent posture had been strictly adopted, 
for ten days, or two weeks after delivery. 

Dietary. — For the first day the diet should con- 
sist of nicely made and well boiled Graham gruel, 
arrowroot, and milk, bread and milk, tea, dry toast 
and butter, or bread and butter ; taking care not 
to overload the stomach with too much fluid. A 
cupful of either food should not be exceeded, 
otherwise the patient will feel oppressed ; she will 
be liable to violent perspiration, and there will be a 
too abundant secretion of milk. 

For the second day. — Breakfast, — either dry toast 
and butter, or bread and butter, and black tea. 
Dinner, — either chicken or game, mashed potatoes 
and bread. Supper, — a breakfast-cupful of well- 
boiled and well-made gruel, made either with 
water or with fresh milk, or with equal parts of 
milk and water, or with water with a table- 
spoonful of cream added to it. 

On the third and fourth days. — Similar diet to 
the second day, with this difference, that for dinner 
the patient should have mutton — either a mutton 
chop or a cut out of a joint of mutton, instead of 
the chicken or game. The diet ought gradually 
to be improved, so that at the end of four days she 
should return to her usual diet — providing it is 
plain, wholesome and. nourishing. 



DIETARY. 245 

The above, for the generality of cases, is the scale 
of dietary ; but of course every patient ought not 
to be treated alike. If weak and delicate, she may 
require good nourishment from the beginning, and 
instead of gruel, it may, from the very commence- 
ment, be necessary to prescribe good strong beef 
tea, veal and milk broth, chicken broth, mutton 
chops, grilled chicken, game, the yolk and the 
white ot an egg beaten up together in half a tea- 
cupful of good fresh milk, etc. 

For the first week either toast and water or 
barley water and milk, with the chill taken off, is 
the best beverage. Barley water, either with or 
without the milk, forms an admirable drink; but 
in either case, it ought always to be eaten flavored 
with table salt. A little salt should always be 
added to barley water — it takes off its insipidity, 
it gives it a relish which it otherwise would not 
possess. Some of my patients like it not only 
flavored with salt, but also slightly sweetened 
with loaf sugar. 

Wine, spirits, and beer, during this time, unless 
the patient is weak and exhausted, or unless or- 
dered by the doctor, ought not to be given. All 
liquids given during this period should be admin- 
istered by means of a feeding-cup ; this plan I 
strongly recommend, as it is both a comfort and a 
benefit to the patient ; it prevents her every time 
she has to take fluids from sitting up in bed, and it 
keeps her perfectly still and quiet, which, for the 
first week after confinement, is very desirable. 



246 CHILD-BIRTH. 

When she is weak, and faint, and low, it may, 
as early as the first or second day, be necessary to 
give a stimulant, such as either a tumblerful of 
home-brewed ale or a glass or two of wine daily ; 
but in the generality of cases either toast and 
water, or barley water and milk, for the first week 
after confinement, is the best beverage. 

An excellent beverage to quench the thirst in 
hot weather, after a confinement, is cold, weak 
black tea, with very little sugar, bat with plenty 
of cream in it. 

Tea for breakfast and supper is, during a re- 
covery, better than coffee; but if tea is distasteful, 
then either cocoa or chocolate, made with one-half 
fresh milk, should be taken. Cocoa and chocolate 
are both invigorating and nourishing, and are very 
suitable as beverages, both at and after a con- 
finement. 

If the bowels are costive, coffee is, from time to 
time, preferable to either tea., cocoa or chocolate; 
but not otherwise. Coffee, if used regularly, re- 
quires the taking of exercise, which, in this case, 
is quite out of the question. An occasional cup of 
coffee is often of great service, as it will do away 
with the necessity of swallowing a cathartic — 
which is an important consideration. The best 
time for taking the cup of coffee is early in the 
morning. Coffee, after a confinement, ought to be 
taken, not as a beverage regularly, but as an 
aperient occasionally. 

Milk will often be made to agree with a nursing 



WATER A VALUABLE APERIENT. 247 

mother if she will always take it mixed with an 
equal quantity of water. The water added to the 
milk, prevents the milk from binding up the bowels, 
which it otherwise would do ; not only so, but 
milk without the addition of an equal quantity of 
water is usually too heavy for the stomach easily 
to digest. 

I have for years paid great attention to the 
subject, and come to the conclusion that water is a 
most valuable aperient. While milk, by itself, binds 
up the bowels, producing obstinate constipation ; 
the mixing of an equal quantity of water with the 
milk entirely deprives milk of its binding qualities, 
and keeps the bowels in a regular state. These 
facts are most important to bear in mind ; and I 
know them to be facts, having had great expe- 
rience in the matter, and having made the subject 
my especial study, and having had the honor of 
first promulgating the doctrine that water, in 
proper quantities, is a valuable aperient, and that 
water, in due proportions, mixed with milk, pre- 
vents the milk from confining the bowels, which it 
otherwise would do. 

Some persons have an idea that a wife, for 
some months after child-birth, should be treated as 
an invalid — should lead an idle life. This is an 
error ; for of all people in the world, a nursing 
mother should remember that "employment is 
Nature's physician, and is essential to human 
happiness." The best nurses and the healthiest 
mothers, are wives who are employed from morn- 



248 



CHILD-BIRTH. 



ing until night — who have no spare time unem- 
ployed to feel nervous, or to make complaints of 
aches and of pains — to make a fuss about ; indeed, 
so well does employment usually make them feel 
that they have really no aches or pains — either 
real or imaginary — to complain of, but are hearty 
and strong, happy and contented; indeed, the 
days are too short for them. 




CHAPTER XI. 



NURSING. 



A mother ought not, unless she intends to 
devote herself to her baby, to undertake to nurse 
him. She must make up her mind to forego the 
so-called pleasures of a fashionable life. There 
ought to be no half-and-half measures ; she should 
either give up her helpless babe to the tender 
mercies of a wet nurse, or she must devote her 
whole time and energy to his welfare — to the 
greatest treasure that God hath given her. 

If a mother is blessed with health and strength, 
and has a good breast of milk, it is most unnatural 
a?id very cruel for her not to nurse her child. 

A mother who does not nurse her child is very 
likely soon to be in the family way again. This is 
an important consideration, as frequent child-bear- 
ing is much more weakening to the constitution 
than is the nursing of children. Indeed nursing, 
as a rule, instead of weakening, strengthens the 
mother's frame exceedingly, and assists her mus- 
cular development. Those mothers who nurse 
and cherish their own offspring are not only more 
truly mothers, but they have a double reward in 
that, while their children thrive and thus gladden 

(249) 



250 NURSING. 

their hearts, they themselves are also very ma- 
terially benefited. No woman is so healthy as she 
who bears healthy children healthily 

The breast. — As soon as the patient has recovered 
from the fatigue of labor — say, in about four to 
six hours — attention ought, especially in a first 
confinement, to be paid to the breasts. 

In the first confinement there is, until the third 
day, but very little milk ; although there is usually 
on that day, and for two or three days afterward, a 
great deal of swelling, hardness, distension, and 
uneasiness of the breasts; in consequence of which, 
both care and attention are needed. 

Not only this, but there is frequently a degree 
of feverishness, which, in some cases, is rather 
severe, amounting even to what is called milk 
fever. 

If there is milk in the breast, which may be 
readily ascertained by squeezing the nipple be- 
tween the finger and the thumb, the infant should 
at first be applied, not frequently, but at consid- 
erable intervals, say until the milk is properly 
secreted, every four hours. When the milk flows, 
the child ought to be applied more frequently, but 
still at stated times. 

The child ought never to be given the nipple 
until it is first satisfactorily ascertained that there 
is really milk in the breasts ; neglect of this advice 
has caused many a gathered breast, and has fre- 
quently necessitated the weaning of the child. 

To wash away any viscid mucus from the nip- 



THE BREASTS — TREATMENT. 25 1 

pie, or any stale perspiration, the breasts and 
nipples should be sponged with a little warm 
water, and dried with a warm, soft napkin. Some 
infants are so particular, that, unless the breasts 
are perfectly free from stale perspiration, and the 
nipples from dried-up milk, they will not nurse. 
If after the above cleansing' process, there is any 
difficulty in making him nurse, smear a little cream 
on the nipple, and then immediately apply him 
to it. 

If the breasts are full, hard, knotty, and painful, 
which they generally are two or three days after 
a first confinement, let them be well but tenderly 
rubbed every four hours, with the best olive oil 
(a little of which should be warmed in a teacup) 
or with equal parts of olive oil and of Eau de Co- 
logne, which should be well shaken in a bottle 
every time before using. 

On the third day, more especially after a first 
confinement, the breasts are apt to become very 
much swollen, painful and distended. If such is 
the case, it may be necessary, for a few days, to 
have them drawn once or twice daily. 

If the breasts are more than usually large and 
painful, in addition to assiduously using the one or 
the other of the above liniments, apply to the 
breasts, in the intervals, young cabbage leaves, 
which should be renewed after each rubbing. Be- 
fore applying them, the veins of the leaves should 
with a sharp knife be cut smooth — level with the 
leaf. It will require several, as the whole of the 



252 NURSING. 

breast ought to be covered. The cabbage leaves 
will be found both cooling and comforting. Each 
breast should then be nicely supported with a soft 
folded silk handkerchief which should be tied at 
the back of the neck — thus acting as a kind of sling 
to the breasts. 

While the breasts are full and uncomfortable 
the patient ought not to drink much fluid, as it 
would only encourage a larger secretion of milk. 

When the secretion of milk is at its height, she 
ought, for a couple of mornings, to take a little 
cooling medicine — a Seidlitz powder — and every 
four hours the following effervescing mixture : 

Take of — Bicarbonate of Potash, one dram and a half ; 

Distilled Water, eight ounces ; 
To make a mixture. — Two tablespoonfuls to be taken, with two 
tablespoonfuls of the Acid Mixture, every four hours, while 
effervescing, 

Take of — Citric Acid, three drams ; 

Distilled Water, eight ounces ; 
Mix. — The Acid Mixture. 

The best way of taking the above is to put two 
tablespoonfuls of the first mixture into a tumbler, 
and two tablespoonfuls of the acid mixture into a 
wine glass, then to add the latter to the former, 
and it will bubble up like soda water. Instantly 
drink it while effervescing. 

The size of the breasts under the above manage- 
ment will soon decrease, all pain will cease, and the 
infant will, with ease and comfort, take the breast. 
Second and succeeding confinements. — If the breasts 



MILK FEVER — TREATMENT. 253 

are comfortable (which in the second and in suc- 
ceeding confinements they probably will be), let 
nothing be done to them, except as soon as the 
milk comes, at regular intervals, apply the child 
alternately to each of them. Many a breast has 
been made uncomfortable, irritable, swollen, and 
even has sometimes gathered, by the nurse's inter- 
ference and meddling. Meddlesome midwifery is 
bad, and I am quite sure that meddlesome breast- 
tending is equally so. A nurse, in her wisdom, 
fancies by rubbing, by pressing, by squeezing, 
by fingering, by liniment, and by drawing, that she 
does great good, while in reality, in the majority 
of cases, by such interference she does great harm. 

The child will, in second and in succeeding con- 
finements, as a rule, be the best and the only doctor 
the bosoms require. I am quite convinced that, 
in a general way, nurses interfere too much, and 
that the breasts in consequence suffer. It is the 
doctor's province, in such matters, to direct the 
treatment ; while it is the nurse's duty to fully 
carry out the doctor's instructions. 

Let the above advice be borne in mind, and 
much trouble, misery, and annoyance may be 
averted. Nature manages these things much bet- 
ter than any nurse possibly can do ; and does not, 
as a rule, require helping. 

Milk fever or weed. — The patient is liable a few 
days — generally on the third day after confinement 
— to a feverish attack, called Milk Fever or Weed, 
or Ephemeral Fever, and ephemeral it truly is, as 



254 NURSING. 

it lasts only twenty-four hours, or at most, unless 
some mischief should intervene, forty-eight hours. 
It comes like an ague fit, having its three stages — 
its cold stage, its hot stage, and its sweating stage. 
There is usually accompanying it headache, and 
pains flying about one or both the breasts, the 
back, and the lower part of the abdomen. 

The fever on the secretion of the milk, usually 
passes off, leaving no damage in its track ; yet, 
notwithstanding, it sometines does leave injury 
behind, either in the womb or in the breast — caus- 
ing, in some instances, a badly gathered breast. 

The ephemeral fever, therefore, requires great 
care and attention, both from the doctor and from 
the nurse to ward off such a serious disease as- a 
gathered breast. 

Stated time for nursing. — After the babe is 
washed, he generally falls asleep, and sleeps for 
several hours. It is not necessary to arouse him 
from his slumber to give hin sustenance — cer- 
tainly not ; the mother's milk is not always ready 
for him ; but as soon as it is, he instinctively 
awakes, and becomes importunate, and cries until 
able to obtain it. Nature — beneficent Nature — if 
we will but listen to her voice, will usually tell us 
what to do and what not to do. The teasing of a 
mother's breasts by putting the babe to them 
before there is milk, and the stuffing of an infant 
with artificial food, are evils of great magnitude, 
and cannot be too strongly condemned. 

A mother ought to nurse her babe at stated 



STATED TIMES FOR NURSING. 255 

times. It is a bad habit to give him the breast 
every times he cries, regardless of the cause ; for 
be it what it may — over-feeding, griping, wind, or 
acidity — she is apt to consider the breast a panacea 
for all his sufferings. A mother generally nurses 
her infant too often — having him almost constantly 
at the breast. This practice is injurious both to 
parent and to child. For the first month, the child 
should be nursed about every hour and a half ; for 
the second month, every two hours ; gradually 
increasing as he becomes older, the distance of 
time between, until at length he has the breast 
about every four hours. If nursed at stated pe- 
riods, he would only look for it at those times, and 
be satisfied. 

A mother frequently allows her babe to nurse 
a great part of every night. This plan is hurtful 
both to herself and the child ; it weakens her, and 
thus enfeebles him ; it robs them both of their 
sleep, and generates bad habits, which it will be 
difficult to break ; it often gives the mother a sore 
nipple and the child a sore mouth ; it sometimes 
causes the mother to have a gathered breast, and 
fills the child with wind. 

It is surprising how soon an infant may, by 
judicious management, be brought into good 
habits ; it only requires, at first, a little deter- 
mination and perseverance ; a nursing mother 
therefore ought at once to commence by giving 
her child the breast at stated periods, and should 
rigidly adhere to the times above recommended. 



256 NURSING. 

A mother should not, directly after taking a long 
walk, and while in a state of violent perspiration, 
give her babe the breast ; the milk, being at that 
time in a heated state, will disorder her child's 
bowels, or it may originate some skin disease, and 
one difficult to cure. She ought before giving him 
the breast, to wait until the surface of her body be 
moderately cool, but not cold. Let her be careful 
not to sit in draughts. 

Clothing. — A nursing mother ought to have her 
dress made loose' and comfortable. If not in the 
habit of wearing a flannel waistcoat, she ought at 
least to have the breast covered with flannel, 
taking care that there is a piece of soft linen over 
the nipples. I should advise a nursing mother to 
provide herself with a waterproof nursing apron, 
which may be procured at any druggist's. 

Dietary. — A nursing mother ought to live 
plainly; her diet should be both light and nour- 
ishing. It is a mistaken notion that at these times 
she requires extra good living. She ought never 
to be forced to eat more than her appetite de- 
mands, or indigestion, heartburn, sickness, cos- 
tiveness, or a bowel complaint, will ensue. It is 
folly at any time to force the appetite. If not 
hungry, compelling her to eat will do her more 
harm than good. 

The best meats are mutton and beef ; veal and 
pork may be eaten for a change. Salted meats 
are hard of digestion ; if boiled beef is eaten, it 
ought to be only slightly salted. Salt of course, 



DIETARY. 257 

must be eaten with unsalted meat. Highly-sea- 
soned dishes are injurious; they inflame the blood, 
and thus disorder the milk. 

Some persons consider that no care is required 
in the selection of food, and that a nursing mother 
may eat anything, be it ever so gross and un- 
wholesome ; but if we appeal to reason and facts, 
we shall be borne out in saying that great care is 
required. It is well known that cow's milk par- 
takes of the properties of the food on which the 
animal lives. Thus, if a cow is fed on swedes, the 
milk and the butter will have a turnipy flavor. 
This, beyond a doubt, decides that the milk does 
partake of the qualities of the food on which she 
feeds. The same reasoning holds good in the 
human species, and proves the absurdity of al- 
lowing a nursing mother to eat anything, be it 
ever so gross, indigestible, or unwholesome. 
Again, either a dose of purgative medicine or 
greens eaten at dinner, will sometimes purge the 
babe as violently, or even more so, than the 
mother herself. 

A babe who is nursed by a mother who lives 
grossly is more prone to disease, particularly to 
skin diseases, and to inflammatory complaints, and 
to diseases which are difficult to subdue. On the 
other hand, a nursing mother, who lives on nour- 
ishing diet, yet simply and plainly, has usually the 
purest, as well as the most abundant, supply of 
milk. 

Do not let me be misunderstood : I am not ad- 



258 NURSING. 

vocating that a mother should be fussily particular. 
Let her take a variety of food, both animal and 
vegetable. But what I object to are gross meats, 
such as goose and duck; highly salted beef; shell- 
fish, such as lobster and crab ; rich dishes ; highly 
seasoned soup ; pastry, unless plain ; cabbage, greens 
and pickles, if found to disagree with the babe, 
and with any other article of food which is either 
rich, gross, or indigestible, and which, from ex- 
perience, she has found to disagree with herself 
or with her child. It will be seen from the above 
catalogue, that my restrictions as to diet are lim- 
ited, and I hope are founded both on reason and 
on common sense — which ought to be the guides 
and counselors of every nursing mother, and of 
every one else besides. 

A mother who is nursing is at times liable to at- 
tacks of depression. Let me strongly urge the im- 
portance of her abstaining from wine and from all 
other stimulants as a remedy ; they would only 
raise her spirits for a time and then would depress 
them in an increased ratio. Either, a drive in the 
country, a short walk, a cup of tea, or a chat with 
a friend, would be the best medicine. 

Fresh air and exercise. — Outdoor exercise dur- 
ing nursing cannot be too strongly insisted upon ; 
it is the finest medicine both for babe and mother. 
Whenever the weather will admit, it must be 
taken. It is utterly impossible for a nursing 
mother to make good milk unless she takes an 
abundance of exercise, and breathes plenty of 
fresh air. - 



OCCUPATION. 259 

Whatever improves the health of the mother, 
at the same time benefits the child. There is 
nothing more conducive to health than an 
abundance of outdoor exercise. It often happens 
that a mother who is nursing seldom leaves the 
house ; she is a regular fixture, or like a cabbage 
that vegetates in one spot ; the consequence is both 
she and her babe are usually delicate and prone to 
sickness — it would, indeed, be strange if they were 
not. 

Carriage riding, if the weather is hot and 
sultry, is preferable to walking ; if that is not 
practicable, she ought to have the windows thrown 
wide open, and should walk about the hall, and 
the rooms, as she would by such means avoid the 
intense heat of the sun. Although carriage exer- 
cise during intensely hot weather is preferable to 
walking exercise, yet walking must, during some 
portion of the day, be practiced. There is no sub- 
stitute, as far as health is concerned, for walking. 
Many ailments that women now labor under 
could be walked away ; and really it would be a 
pleasant medicine — far more agreeable and effect- 
ual than either pill or potion ! 

Occupation. — I strongly recommend a nursing 
mother to attend to her household duties. She is 
never so happy, nor so well, as when her mind is 
moderately occupied with something useful. She 
never looks so charming as when attending to the 
little cares of her home." 

A patient must have occupation — bustling oc- 



260 NURSING. 

cupation — real downright work, either in the form 
of outdoor exercise, or of attending to her house- 
hold duties, if she desires to have a good breast 
of milk, and healthy children. The Almighty is 
no respecter of persons. He has ordained that 
work shall be the lot of man, and of woman too ! 
It is a blessed thing to be obliged to work. If 
we do not work, we have to pay a heavy penalty 
in the loss of both health and happiness. Work 
is the grand cure of all the maladies and miseries 
that ever beset mankind. 

A mother who is listless and idling the greater 
part of every day in an easy chair, or reclining 
on a sofa, in a room where a breath of air is not 
allowed to enter, usually makes a miserable and 
wretched nurse. She is hysterical, nervous, dys- 
peptic, emaciated and dispirited ; having but little 
milk, and that little of a bad quality ; her babe is 
puny, pallid and unhealthy, and frequently drops 
into an untimely grave. Occupation, with fresh 
air and exercise, is indispensable to a mother who 
is nursing. How true it is that to be employed 
is to be happy, while the converse is equally cor- 
rect — to be idle is to be miserable. 

No wife — more especially a nursing mother — 
can be strong and well unless she has occupation. 
Occupation is emphatically a necessity. "Nature 
has made occupation a necessity ; society makes 
it a duty ; habit may make it a pleasure." 

Ailments, etc. — A good nipple is important, both 
to the comfort of the mother and to the well- 
doing of the child. 



RETRACTED NIPPLES. 26 1 

One, among many, of the ill effects of corsets is 
the pushing in of the nipples ; sore nipples, and con- 
sequent suffering - , are the result ; a mother thus 
afflicted may be quite unable to nurse her infant ; 
and then she will be severely punished for her 
ignorance and folly. Women who never wear 
stays have much better nipples, and more fully 
developed breasts ; hence such mothers are more 
likely to make better nurses to their babes. There 
is no doubt that the pressure of the stays tends to 
decrease the size of the breasts and cause the 
nipples to be pushed in, and thus to sadly interfere 
with their functions. I should strongly advise 
every mother who has daughters old enough to 
profit by it, to bear this fact in mind, and thus to 
prevent mischief when mischief might be pre- 
vented, by not allowing them to wear stays. 

Treatment of very small and retracted nipples. — 
The baby ought to nurse by means of a glass 
nipple shield, placed over the nipple. I have 
known many mothers able to nurse their children 
with this invention, who otherwise would have 
been obliged to have weaned them, or to have 
procured the assistance of a wet nurse. The above 
aid, in the generality of instances, will enable the 
infant to nurse with ease. After this has been used 
for a time, the nipples will be so improved as to 
render the continuance of it unnecessary. I do 
not advise the use of this nipple shield until a fair 
trial has been given by applying the babe at once 
to the nipple ; but if he cannot draw out the 



262 NURSING. 

nipple, then, rather than wean him, or than employ 
a wet nurse, it ought, by all means, to be tried. 

The following is an excellent remedy for re- 
tracted nipples: Apply a zone of collodion, an 
inch or two wide around the nipple — at the dis- 
tance of half an inch. This has been found a very 
efficient remedy. The application may be made 
with a camel's hair brush, or with the finger. Col- 
lodion is harmless in its effect, and can be applied 
often, till desired result is attained. 

As soon as the nipple is sufficiently drawn out, 
the nipple shield should be dispensed with. When 
the infant is not at the breast a metallic shield 
should be worn. Small, bad and sore nipples 
have, by wearing these shields, frequently been 
drawn out and made good ones; the dress will 
suffice to keep them in their places, These shields 
are very cooling and healing, and serve to keep off 
all pressure from the clothes ; they will frequently 
cure sore nipples when other remedies have failed. 

Sore nipples. — If a woman during the latter 
months of pregnancy, were to adopt means to 
harden the nipples, sore nipples during nursing 
would not be so prevalent as they now are. 

Sore nipples are frequently produced by the in- 
judicious custom of allowing the child to have the 
nipple almost constantly in his mouth. Stated 
periods for nursing, as recommended in a previous 
paragraph, should be strictly adopted. Another 
frequent cause of a sore nipple is a result of the 
babe having the thrush. It is folly to attempt to 



SORE NIPPLES — TREATMENT. 263 

cure the nipple, without at the same time, curing 
the mouth of the infant. 

Treatment. — One of the best remedies for a sore 
nipple is the following powder: 

Take of Borax, one dram ; 

Powdered starch, seven drams ; 
Mix. — A pinch of the powder to be frequently applied to the 
nipple. 

The following remedy for sore nipple is a very 
good one : 

Take of — Finely-powdered Gum Arabic, half an ounce ; 

Powdered Alum, five grains ; 
Mix well together to make a powder. A pinch of it to be fre- 
quently applied to the sore nipple. 

There is nothing in either of the above powders 
injurious to the infant, therefore not necessary to 
be wiped off, before applying him to the breast. 
Indeed, the former one, as it contains borax, is 
likely to be of service both in preventing and in 
curing the sore mouth of the child. 

If the above powders should not have the de- 
sired effect, a liniment composed of equal parts of 
glycerine and brandy (say a vial containing two 
drams of each) should be tried. Shake the bottle 
before using and then by means of a camel's hair 
brush apply every time directly after the baby has 
been nursed. A piece of old soft cambric, about 
the size of the palm of the hand, snipped to make 
it fit, ought to be moistened in the glycerine and 
brandy, and applied to each of the sore nipples, 
whenever the child is not at the breast, and worn 
until they are cured. These applications will be 



264 NURSING. 

found of much more service and of great comfort, 
protecting- and healing the nipples. A soft sponge 
of warm water should be gently applied to the 
nipples just before putting the child to the breast. 

Sometimes the pure glycerine, without the 
brandy, painted on the sore nipple, does the most 
good ; if the glycerine and brandy does not suc- 
ceed, the pure glycerine should be tried ; there is 
nothing in the pure glycerine injurious to the 
child. Equal parts of collodion and castor oil form 
a preferable application to collodion alone for 
sore nipples. Excoriations and fissures of the 
nipples are more readily healed by this than any 
other application. 

Cracked and fissured nipples. — Sometimes the 
nipple is sore from having either cracks or fissures 
upon it. These cracks or fissures may attack any 
part of the nipple, but are very apt to form where 
the nipple joins the breast. 

Treatment. — A good remedy for a cracked and 
fissured nipple is for the infant to nurse through 
a nipple shield ; and every time, directly after the 
babe has nursed, apply to the parts affected, brandy 
and glycerine. When the child is not at the breast 
the metallic shield should be worn. 

The nipple ought, after nursing, to be thor- 
oughly dried by means of soft linen or cambric, 
and then apply the collodion and castor oil mix- 
ture. The result will be most satisfactory. 

A nursing mother is sometimes annoyed by the 
milk flowing away constantly, making her wet and 



GATHERED BREASTS — SYMPTOMS. 265 

uncomfortable. All she can do under such cir- 
cumstances is to wear nipple glasses, and to apply 
a piece of flannel to the bosom, which will prevent 
the milk from chilling her, and will thus do away 
with the danger of her catching cold, etc. 

If there is a supply of milk in the breasts, and 
the child will not nurse, the doctor's attention 
ought to be drawn to the fact, in order that he 
may ascertain whether the babe is tongue-tied ; 
if he is, a trifling, painless operation will soon 
make all right. 

Gathered breast. — A healthy woman with a well- 
developed breast and a good nipple scarcely, if 
ever, has a gathered breast. 

A gathered breast is more likely to occur after 
a first confinement, and during the first month. 
Great care, therefore, ought to be taken to avoid 
such misfortune. A gathered breast is frequently 
owing to the carelessness of a mother in not cov- 
ering her breast while nursing. Too much atten- 
tion cannot be paid to keeping the breasts 
comfortably warm. This should be done by throw- 
ing either a shawl or a square of flannel over 
the neck, shoulders and breasts. 

Another cause of gathered breasts arises from 
a mother sitting up in bed to nurse her babe. He 
ought to be accustomed to take the breast while 
she is lying down ; if this habit is not at first in- 
stituted, it will be difficult to adopt, it afterward. 
Good habits may, from earliest babyhood, be 
taught a child. 



266 NURSING. 

A sore nipple is another fruitful cause of a 
gathered breast. A mother, in consequence of the 
suffering it produces, dreads putting the babe to 
it ; she therefore keeps him almost entirely to the 
other breast. The result is, the breast becomes 
distended with milk, which, being unrelieved, ends 
in inflammation, and subsequently in gathering. 

There are two forms of gathered breast ; one 
being of vast, and the other of trifling importance. 
The first, the serious one, consists of gathering of 
the structure of the mammary gland; the latter 
merely of the superficial part, and ought to be 
treated in the same manner as any other external 
gathering, with warm poultices. 

In the mild or superficial kind of gathered 
breast, the mother may still persevere in nursing 
her child, as the secreting portion of the breast is 
not at all implicated in the gathering ; but in the 
severe form, she ought not to do so, but should 
instantly wean her child from the affected side. 
The healthy breast she may continue to nurse from. 

A severe gathered breast is always ushered in 
with a severe chill ; the more severe the gathering, 
the longer the chill lasts. Let this fact be im- 
pressed deeply upon the mother's mind, as it ad- 
mits of no exception. This shivering is either 
accompanied or followed by sharp, lancinating 
pains. The breast now greatly enlarges, becomes 
hot, and is very painful. The milk in the affected 
breast either lessens or entirely disappears. If the 
child is applied to the breast (which ought not to 



GATHERED BREASTS— CAUSES. 267 

be), it gives the mother intense pain. She is fever- 
ish and ill, she is hot one minute, and cold the 
next — feeling as though cold water were circu- 
lating with the blood in her veins ; she loses her 
strength and appetite, and is very thirsty ; she 
feels, in fact, very ill. 

A doctor must, at the very onset of the chill, be 
sent for; and he will usually be able to prevent 
such painful and distressing occurrence as a 
gathered breast. If twelve hours elapse after the 
chill has taken place, the chances are that the 
gathering cannot be prevented ; although, even 
then, it may, by judicious treatment, be materially 
lessened. 

We sometimes hear of a woman suffering for 
months, and of having a dozen holes in her breast ! 
This is generally due to a neglect in sending for 
the doctor immediately after the chill ; I cannot too 
strongly insist, under such circumstances, upon 
obtaining prompt assistance ; not only to obviate 
present suffering, but to prevent the function of the 
breast from being injured. 

When once a woman has had the severe form of 
gathered breast, she ought, in all subsequent con- 
finements, before nursing her babe, to obtain the 
express permission of the doctor to do so, or she 
may have a return of the gathered breast, and the 
concomitant pain, misery and annoyance. The 
reason of the above is obvious — the function of the 
breast, in a severe gathering, might be irreparably 
injured; so that, in all subsequent confinements, 



268 NURSING. 

the very attempt of nursing may, instead of induc- 
ing secretion of milk, set up inflammatory action, 
terminating in gathering of the breast. 

When a nursing mother feels faint, she ought 
immediately to lie down and take a little nourish- 
ment ; a cup of beef tea with the yolk of an egg 
beaten in it, will answer the purpose extremely 
well. 

A mother is sometimes faint from nursing her 
child too often. As long as she continues this 
foolish practice, she must expect to suffer from 
faintness. When a nursing mother feels faint it is 
often an indication that the child is robbing her 
strength, and tells her, in unmistakable language, 
that she must give him artificial food, or wean 
him altogether. Warnings of faintness during 
nursing, are not to be disregarded. 

Aperients, etc., during nursing. — Strong purga- 
tives during this period are highly improper, as 
they are apt to give pain to the infant, as well as 
to injure the mother. An enema, either of warm 
water alone, or of gruel, oil and table salt,* ad- 
ministered by a good fountain syringe, is an excel- 
lent method of opening the bowels, as it neither 
interferes with the digestion of the mother nor of 
the child. 

The less laxative medicine a nursing mother 
takes, the better will it be for herself and her 
infant. If the bowels will not act, an enema is by 

*Two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, two tablespoonfuls of table 
salt, and a pint of warm oatmeal gruel. 



WEANING. 269 

far the best remedy ; you can never do any harm, 
either to the mother or to the babe, by the ad- 
ministration of an enema ; it will neither induce 
future constipation, nor interfere with the diges- 
tion of the mother, nor with the bowels, nor with 
the health of the infant. For habitual constipa- 
tion follow the directions in Chapter V. 

Weaning. — There is an old saying, "That a 
woman should carry her child nine months, and 
should nurse him nine months/' It is well known 
that the first part of the old adage is correct, and 
experience has proved the latter to be equally so. 
If a babe is weaned before he is nine months old he 
loses that muscular strength which the breast 
milk alone can give ; if he is nursed after he is nine 
months, he becomes pallid, flabby, weak and deli- 
cate. It is generally recognized that the healthiest 
children are those weaned at nine months com- 
plete. Prolonged nursing hurts both child and 
mother; in the child, causing a tendency to brain 
disease, probably through disordered digestion 
and nutrition ; in the mother, causing a strong 
tendency to deafness and blindness. It is a very 
singular fact, that in those districts of Scotland 
where the mothers nurse their infants from fourteen 
to eighteen months, deaf-dumbness and blindness 
prevail to a very much larger extent among the 
people than in districts where nine or ten months 
is the usual limit of the nursing period. 

The time, when an infant should be weaned, must 
depend upon the strength of the child, and upon 



270 NURSING. 

the health of the mother ; nine months on an 
average being the proper time. If she is delicate, 
it may be found necessary to wean him at six 
months ; or if he is weak, or laboring under any 
disease, it may be well to continue, nursing him 
for twelve months ; but after that time the breast 
will do him more harm than good, and will injure 
the mother's health. 

If nursed after he is twelve months old, he is 
generally pale, flabby, unhealthy, and rickety ; and 
the mother is usually nervous, emaciated, and 
hysterical. A child who is nursed beyond the 
proper time, more especially if there is any predis- 
position, sometimes dies either of water on the 
brain, of consumption, or of mesenteric disease. 

The manner in which a mother slwuld wean her 
child. — She must, as the word signifies, do it grad- 
ually — that is she should by degrees give him less 
and less of the breast, and more and more of 
artificial food ; she ought at length only to nurse 
him at night, and lastly, it would be well for the 
mother either to send him away or to leave him 
at home, and for a few days go away herself. 

A good plan is to have in the bed a half-pint 
bottle of new milk, which, to prevent it from turn- 
ing sour, has been previously boiled, so as to give 
a little to the child in place of the breast. The 
warmth of the body will keep the milk of a proper 
temperature, and will supersede the use of lamps, 
of candle frames, and all other troublesome con- 
trivances. 



TREATMENT OF THE BREASTS. 2*J\ 

If the mother is not able to leave home herself, 
or to send her child from home, she ought to let 
him sleep in another room, with some responsible 
person — I say responsible person, for a babe must 
not be left to the tender mercies of a giggling, 
thoughtless young girl. 

If the mother, during the daytime, cannot resist 
having the child in the room with her, then I 
should advise her to make a paste of aloes — mix a 
little powdered aloes with a few drops of water, 
until of the consistence of paste — and smear a little 
of it on the nipple every time just before putting 
him to the breast ; this will be quite enough, and 
one or two aloe-applications to the nipple will 
make him take a disgust to the breast ; and thus 
the weaning will be accomplished. A mother 
need not be afraid that the aloes will injure her 
babe ; the minute quantity he will swallow will do 
no harm ; for the moment he tastes it, the aloes 
being extremely bitter, he will sputter it out of his 
mouth. 

The best way of drying up the milk is to apply 
to each breast soap plaster spread on soft pieces of 
wash leather, the shape and size of the top of a 
hat, with a round hole in the middle of each to 
admit the nipple, and with a slit from the center 
to the circumference of each plaster to make a 
better fit. These plasters ought to be spread by 
a druggist. 

When the child is weaned, the breasts ought 
not to be drawn, as drawing them would cause 



272 • NURSING. 

them to secrete larger quantities of milk ; if the 
breasts are ever so full or uncomfortable, a mother 
ought to leave them alone ; she should wait pa- 
tiently, and the milk will gradually diminish, and 
at length disappear. 

Drawing the breasts during weaning, either by 
a breast pump, the mouth, or other contrivances, 
has frequently caused gathered breasts. If not 
drawn, they rarely ever gather. 

The above plan will generally in five or six days 
greatly lessen the flow of milk, but if, at the end 
of three days, the breasts still continue full and 
uncomfortable, the plasters should be removed, 
and the breast ought every four hours to be well 
but tenderly rubbed with equal parts of olive oil 
and eau de Cologne. 

Symptoms denoting the necessity of weaning. — A 
mother sometimes cannot nurse her child ; the at- 
tempt bringing on a train of symptoms somewhat 
similar to the following — ringing in the ears ; dim- 
ness of sight, aching of the eyeballs, throbbing in 
the head, nervousness, hysterics, tremblings, faint- 
ness, loss of appetite and of flesh, fluttering and 
palpitation of the heart, feelings of great ex- 
haustion, indigestion, costiveness, sinking sensa- 
tions of the stomach, pains in the left side, great 
weakness and dragging pains of the loins, which 
are usually increased whenever the infant is put to 
the breast ; pallor of the countenance, shortness of 
breath, swelling of the ankles. 

Every mother who is suffering from nursing 



WARNING SYMPTOMS. 273 

does not have the whole of the above long cata- 
logue of symptoms! But if she has three or four 
of the more serious of them, she ought not to dis- 
obey the warnings, but should discontinue nursing; 
although it may be necessary, if the babe is not 
strong enough to wean, to obtain a healthy wet 
nurse to take her place. 

Remember, that if the above warning symp- 
toms are disregarded, dangerous consequences 
may result. It might either throw the mother into 
consumption, or bring on heart disease ; and in 
consequence of his not being able to obtain suffi- 
cient or proper nourishment, it might cause the 
infant to pine away, and eventually to die either 
of water on the brain, or of atrophy. 

If there is during any period of nursing, a 
sudden and great diminution of milk in the breasts, 
the chances are that the mother is again enciente; 
the child should be either weaned, or supplied 
with a healthy wet nurse. It is most injurious 
both to parent and to child, for a mother, when she 
is pregnant, to continue nursing. 

Soon after nine months' nursing the monthly 
periods generally return. This is another warning 
that the babe ought immediately to be weaned, as 
the milk will lessen both in quantity and in nour- 
ishment, and the child in consequence will become 
delicate and puny, and every day he is nursed will 
lose, instead of gain, ground. I have known many 
children become, from protracted nursing, smaller 
at twelve months than they were at nine months. 



274 NURSING. 

When the nipples are persistently very sore, it 
is often an indication that a mother ought to wean 
her babe. Long-continued, obstinate sore nipples 
frequently occur in a delicate woman, and speak in 
language not to be misunderstood, that the child, 
as far as the mother herself is concerned, must be 
weaned. Of course, if the infant is not old enough 
to wean, a wet nurse ought to take the mother's 
place. If the above advice were more frequently 
followed, gathered breasts, much suffering and 
broken health would not so frequently prevail as 
they now do. 

If a mother is predisposed to consumption; if 
she has had spitting of blood ; if she is subject to 
violent palpitation of the heart ; if she is laboring 
under great debility and extreme delicacy of con- 
stitution, she ought not, on any account, to nurse 
her child, but should, by all means, procure a 
healthy wet nurse. 

A mother, when weaning her child, should live 
very abstemiously ; she should avoid highly spiced 
and rich dishes, and stimulants of all kinds ; she 
should drink very little fluid ; she should, as much 
as possible, be out of sight and hearing of her 
babe ; she should rub her breasts three times a 
day, with warm camphorated oil. Once having 
weaned her child, she should not again put him to 
the breast. The less the breasts are meddled with 
the better; except it be to rub them with warm 
camphorated oil, or the application of soap plaster 
spread on wash leather to each breast. 



CHAPTER XII. 



INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 



A rose -with all its sweetest leaves yet folded. — Byron. 

I deem it the imperative duty of every mother 
to study the following subjects well. The proper 
management of children is a vital question — a 
mother's question, — and the most important that 
can be brought under the consideration of a 
parent. Strange to say, it is one that has been 
more neglected than any other. How many 
mothers undertake the responsible management of 
children without previous instruction, or without 
forethought ; they undertake it as though it may 
be learned either by intuition, by instinct, or by 
affection. The consequence is, that frequently 
they are in a sea of trouble and uncertainty, 
tossing about without rule or compass ; until, too 
often, their hopes and treasures are shipwrecked 
and lost. 

The care, management, and consequently the 
health and future well-doing of the child, princi- 
pally devolve upon the mother ; " for it is the 
mother after all that has most to do with the mak- 
ing or marring of the man." How man}' cele- 
brated men have owed their greatness and their 

(275) 



276 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM.- 

goodness to a mother's training ? Napoleon owed 
much to his mother. " The fate of a child," said 
Napoleon, " is always the work of his mother," and 
this extraordinary man took pleasure in repeating, 
that to his mother he owed his elevation. All his- 
tory confirms this opinion. The character of the 
mother influences the children more than that of 
the father, because it is more exposed to their 
daily, hourly observation. 

I am not overstating the importance of the sub- 
ject in hand when I say that a child is the most 
valuable treasure in the world, that " he is the 
precious gift of God," that he is the source of a 
mother's greatest and purest enjoyment, that he is 
the strongest bond of affection between her and 
her husband, and that 

"A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure, 
A messenger of peace and love."- — Tapper. 

In the writing of the following pages, I have 
had one object constantly in view — namely, health 
— and if the following pages insist on the import- 
ance of one mother's duty more than another, it is 
this, — that the mother herself look well into every, 
thing pertaining to the management of her child^ 
Blessed is that mother among mothers of whom 
it can be said, that she hath done what she could 
for her child— for his welfare, his happiness, and 
his health. If a mother hath not done what she 
could for her child — mentally, morally and physi- 
cally — woe betide the unfortunate little creature, 
better for him had he never been born. 



BATHING OF INFANTS. 277 

Ablution. — A new-born infant ought to be 
washed in warm water. It is not an uncommon 
plan to use cold water from the first, under the im- 
pression of its strengthening the child. This 
appears to be a cruel and barbarous practice, and 
is likely to have a contrary tendency, frequently 
producing inflammation of the eyes, stuffing of 
the nose, inflammation of the lungs, or looseness 
of the bowels. Although I do not approve of cold 
water, we ought not to run into an opposite ex- 
treme, as hot water would weaken and enervate 
the babe, and thus predispose him to disease. 
Lukewarm rain water is the best to wash him 
with. This, if in summer, should have its tem- 
perature gradually lowered, until quite cold; if in 
winter, a little warm water to be added, to take 
off the chill. (By thermometer = 90 to 92 degrees). 

Castile soap should be used, and care should be 
taken that it does not get into the eyes, as it may 
produce inflammation or smarting of these organs. 
If the skin is delicate, or there are any excoria- 
tions or breaking-out, then glycerine soap, instead 
of Castile soap, ought to be used. 

When the navel string comes away a mother 
ought to commence washing her infant either in a tub, 
or a nursery basin. Do not be afraid of water, as 
it is one of the best strengthened to a child's con- 
stitution. How many infants suffer for the want 
of water, from excoriation ! For the first part of 
the washing a piece of flannel is very useful to use 
with the soap, and to loosen the dirt and perspi- 



278 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

ration, but for the finishing up process a large 
sponge is superior to flannel. A sponge cleanses 
and gets into all the nooks, corners, and crevices 
of the skin. Besides, it is softer and more agree- 
able to the tender skin of a babe than flannel. 

Any tenacious, paste-like substance, adhering to 
the skin of a new-born babe ought to be washed 
off at the first dressing, if it can be done with a 
soft sponge and with care. Should there be any 
difficulty in removing the substance, gently rub it, 
by means of a flannel, either with a little lard, 
fresh butter, or sweet oil. After the parts have 
been well anointed and gently rubbed with the 
lard, oil or butter, wash off all by means of a 
sponge, soap and warm water, and then, to com- 
plete the process, gently put him for a minute or 
two in his tub. If this paste-like substance is 
allowed to remain on the skin, it might produce a 
breaking-out. Besides, it is impossible, if allowed 
to remain, for the skin to perform its proper 
functions. 

A babe ought, every morning of his life, to be 
thoroughly washed from head to foot ; and this 
can only be properly done by putting him bodily 
into a bath. The head, before placing him in the 
bath, should be wet, then, with a piece of flannel 
well soaked, cleanse his whole body, particularly 
his arm-pits, his thighs, and his groins ; then take 
a large sponge in hand, and allow the water from 
it to stream all over the body, particularly over 
his back and loins. Follow this advice and you 



CLEANLINESS AN INCENTIVE TO HEALTH. 279 

will find the plan most strengthening to your 
child. After every bath, the skin must be thor- 
oughly but quickly dried with warm, dry, soft 
towels. 

The ears must be carefully and well dried with 
a soft, dry napkin ; inattention to this advice has 
sometimes caused a gathering in the ear, and at 
other times it has produced deafness. Directly 
after the infant is dried, all the parts that are at 
all likely to be chafed ought to be well powdered ; 
after he is well dried and powdered the chest, 
back, bowels, and limbs should be gently rubbed, 
taking care not to expose him unnecessarily during 
such friction. 

He ought to be partially washed every evening ; 
indeed, it may be necessary to use a sponge and 
warm water during the day, each time after the 
bowels have been relieved. Cleanliness is one of 
the great incentives to health, and therefore cannot 
be too strongly insisted upon. If more attention 
were paid to this subject, children would be more 
exempt from chafings, breakings-out, and conse- 
quent suffering, than at present. After the second 
month, if the babe is delicate, the addition of two 
handfuls of table salt to the water will tend to 
brace and strengthen him. 

With regard to the best powder to dust an 
infant with, there is nothing better for general 
use than starch — the old-fashioned starch made of 
w heat en flour — reduced by means of a pestle and 
mortar to a fine powder ; or Violet Powder, which 



28o INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

is nothing more than finely powdered starch 
scented, and which may be procured of any drug- 
gist. Some are in the habit of using white lead, 
but as this is poison, it ought, on no account, to be 
used. 

If the parts about the groin and fundament are 
excoriated, after sponging them with tepid rain 
water, there is nothing better than dusting the 
parts frequently with finely powdered Native Car- 
bonate of Zinc-Calamine Powder. The best way 
of using this powder is to tie up a little of it in a 
piece of muslin and then gently patting the parts 
with it. 

Remember, excoriations are generally owing to 
the want of water — to the want of an abundance of 
water. An infant who is well bathed every morn- 
ing seldom suffers from excoilations, or from any 
of the numerous skin diseases. Cleanliness is 
the grand preventive and the best remedy for 
excoriations. 

n infant's clothes, napkins especially, ought 
never to be washed with soda ; the washing of 
napkins with soda is apt to produce excoriations 
and breaking out. As washerwomen often deny 
that they use soda, it can be easily detected by 
simply soaking a clean white napkin in fresh water 
and then tasting the water ; if it is brackish and salt, 
soda has been employed. 

Further advice on the question of the ablution. — It 
is dangerous for a babe to remain for a long period 
in a bath ; this holds good in a tenfold degree if 



THE NAVEL STRING. 28 1 

the child has a cold or pain in his bowels. Take 
care that, after he comes out of his tub, he is well 
dried with warm towels. It is well to let him have 
his bath the first thing in the morning, and before 
he has been put to the breast. Besides, he ought 
to have his morning ablution on an empty stomach, 
or it may interfere with digestion, and might pro- 
duce sickness and pain. In putting him in his tub, 
let his head be the first part washed. We all know, 
that in bathing in the sea, how much better we can 
bear the water if the head is first wet. If this is 
not done we feel shivering and starved and miser- 
able. Let there be no dawdling in the washing ; 
let it be quickly over. When he is thoroughly 
dried let him be well rubbed with the warm hand 
of the mother. While drying let him repose, kick 
and stretch either on the warm flannel apron, or 
else on a small blanket placed on the lap. One 
bath in the tub, and that in the morning, is suffi- 
cient, and better than night and morning. 

Remember, it is absolutely necessary to every 
child from his earliest babyhood to have a bath, to 
be immersed every morning of his life in the water. 
This advice, unless in cases of severe illness, ad- 
mits of no exception. Water to the whole body is 
a necessity of life; health and happiness ; it wards 
off disease, braces the nerves, hardens the frame, 
and is the finest tonic in the world. Oh, if every 
mother would follow to the very letter this counsel 
how much misery, how much ill-health might be 
averted ! 



282 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

The navel string should be wrapped in a piece 
of fine old linen, unsinged; when singed it fre- 
quently irritates the infant's skin. 

Take a piece of soft linen, about three inches 
wide and four inches long, and wrap it neatly 
round the navel string, in the same manner you 
would around a cut finger, and then tie it with a 
few rounds of white thread. The navel string 
thus covered should, pointing upward, be placed 
on the belly of the child, and must be secured in 
its place by means of a flannel belly-band. 

If after the navel string has been secured, bleed- 
ing should occur, the attendant ought imme- 
diately to take off the covering and tightly retie 
the navel string. To make assurance doubly 
sure, after once tying it, she should pass the threads 
a second time around the navel string, and tie it 
again. After carefully ascertaining that it no 
longer bleeds, fasten it up as before. Bleeding of 
the navel string rarely occurs, yet in case it should, 
if the above directions are not adopted, the child's 
after health, or even his life, may be endangered. 

The navel string separates from the child from 
five days to a week after birth ; in some cases not 
until ten days or two weeks, or, in rare cases, not 
until three weeks. If the navel string does not 
come away at the end of a week, nothing should 
be done to cause the separation. It ought always 
to be allowed to drop off. Meddling with the 
navel string has frequently cost the babe a great 
deal of suffering, and in some cases even his life. 



RUPTURE OF THE NAVEL. 283 

The navel is sometimes a little sore after the navel 
string comes away, in which case a little simple 
cerate or cosmoline should be spread on lint, and 
be applied every morning to the part affected, and a 
white bread poultice, every night, until it is quite 
healed. 

A rupture of the navel is sometimes occasioned 
by a meddlesome nurse. She is very anxious to 
cause the navel string to separate from the infant's 
body, more especially when it is longer in coming 
away than usual. She therefore forces it away. 
The rupture, at another time, is occasioned by the 
child incessantly crying. A mother should always 
bear in mind, that a rupture of the navel is often 
caused by much crying, and that it occasions much 
crying ; indeed, it is a frequent cause of incessant 
crying. A child, who, without any assignable 
cause, is constantly crying, should have his navel 
carefully examined. 

A rupture of the navel ought always to be 
treated early — the earlier the better. Ruptures of 
the navel can only be cured in infancy and child- 
hood. If allowed to run until adult age, a cure is 
impossible. Palliative means only can be adopted. 

The best treatment is a Burgundy pitch plaster, 
spread on a soft piece of wash leather, about the 
size of the top of a tumbler, with a properly-ad- 
justed pad (made from the plaster) fastened on the 
center of the plaster, which will effectually keep 
up the rupture, and in a few weeks will cure it. 
It will be necessary, from time to time, to renew 



284 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

the plaster until the cure is effected. These plas- 
ters will be found more efficacious and pleasant 
than either truss or bandage; which appliances 
sometimes gall, and do more harm than good. 

A groin rupture can also be cured, if properly 
attended to. Consult a doctor, and he will supply 
you with a well-fitting truss, which will eventually 
cure him. If the truss is properly made by a skillful 
surgical-instrument maker, a nicely-fitting one will 
be supplied, which will take the proper and exact 
curve of the lower part of the infant's abdomen, 
and will thus keep on without using any under- 
strap whatever — a great desideratum, as these un- 
der-straps are so constantly wetted and soiled as to 
subject the patient to cold. But if this under-strap 
is to be superseded, the truss must be made ex- 
actly to fit the child — a very difficult thing to ac- 
complish unless fashioned by a skilful workman. 

These groin ruptures require great attention 
and supervision, as the rupture (the bowel) must, 
be cautiously and thoroughly returned into the 
abdomen before putting on the truss, and much care 
should be used to prevent the chafing and galling 
of the tender skin of the babe, which an ill-fitting 
truss will be sure to occasion. The truss must not 
be discontinued until a perfect cure is effected. 

Let me strongly urge you to see that this advice 
is carried out to the very letter, as a groin rup- 
ture can only be cured in infancy and in childhood. 
If allowed to run until adult age, he will be 
obliged to wear a truss all his life, which would 



CLOTHING. ?85 

be a great annoyance and a perpetual irritation to 
him. 

Clothing. — The flannel belly-band ought to be 
moderately, but not tightly applied. If tightly 
applied it would interfere with the necessary move- 
ment of the bowels. When the child is two or 
three months old, the belly-band should be discon- 
tinued. The best way of leaving it off is to tear a 
strip off daily for a few mornings, and then leave 
it off altogether.* Nurses who take charge of an 
infant when the monthly nurse leaves, are fre- 
quently in the habit of leaving off the belly-band 
at once, which often leads to ruptures when the 
child cries or strains. It is far wiser to retain it 
too long than too short a time ; should a child catch 
whooping-cough, while still very young, it is wise 
to resume the belly-band. 

* Much has recently been said and written on the subject of dress 
for infants There are those, eminent in the medical profession, who 
are strongly in favor of discarding all bandaging. These contend 
that bandages are unnecessary and unnatural, and ought not to be 
used. In a lecture delivered at the Chicago Homoeopathic Medical 
College, L. C. Grosvenor, M. D., says: > 

A few years ago, when attending at the birth of a child, I chanced 
to be the only old lady present, competent and willing to make the 
little one's first toilet. 

Now, when we old ladies of the male persuasion attempt to do any- 
thing, we like to do it well. I got along nicely with the bath, but 
when the wardrobe was brought in, it set me to thinking again, as it 
had done many times before, upon the very inconvenient and harmful 
way in which we dress our infants. 

In the first place, here was a little bandage to go two or three times 
around the body over the navel dressing, and to be pinned with four 
pins — and you know it is customary to wear this until the child goes 
into short clothes, or even through the second summer. Now, the 
Creator has made the abdominal wall elastic for a purpose — to accom- 
modate itself to the varying conditions of the child's digestion. If it 
has a full meal the wall is large enough, and if it has eaten little it is 



286 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

none too large. If there is wind in the bowel the abdomen distends 
and gives it room till it can find its way through sixteen feet of con- 
voluted intestine. The bandage destroys all this elasticity and defeats 
the Creator's plans in the matter. 

" But," say the old ladies, " we must put on a bandage and put it 
on snugly, or the baby will be ruptured, or big-bellied, and all out* of 
shape." Nonsense ! Nature does not do her work in such a careless 
way. 

When the infant cries lustily this elastic wall distends evenly in all 
directions, and if not bandaged seldom ruptures. It is the bandaged 
babies who rupture. 

Let us see ! The band was well applied in the morning, but in the 
constant motion so characteristic to the young of all animals, it is par- 
tially displaced, compressing a portion of the abdomen but exposing 
the umbilicus, which now has to take the whole pressure, and bursts, 
and we have an umbilical hernia. "But," says the grandmother or 
nurse, " I do not apply the band in any such careless way. I adjust 
it evenly and put in four pins, the lower one through the diaper 
to hold it down." What happens now? The child cries, and the 
chance of distension being gone, he ruptures into the scrotum if a boy, 
or in the femoral region if a girl — surely not a very desirable condition. 

No. I would dress the navel with a pad of absorbent cotton and a 
light band held by two pins, just enough to retain the navel dressing, 
and discard the band when the navel dressing comes off. 

The matrons and nurses will oppose this encroachment upon time- 
honored customs, but a little tact and explanation will win them to 
your way of thinking. I have seen only one ruptured baby in twenty 
years among the unbandaged. 

The next article that I came across was a little shirt, made of linen 
— the coldest goods in the world — starched stiff at that, and having 
saw-teeth around the neck to keep the baby irritable. Surely this 
should have no place in the infant's wardrobe. It is neither comfort- 
able to the child, nor convenient to the mother. 

Then came the pinning blanket, one of the most uncomfortable 
and unhealthy garments ever invented, Let us see: The chest wall 
is made to expand and contract at every inspiration and expiration. 
The ribs do not pass around the body like a barrel hoop, but curve 
downward and upward from the sternum to the spine in such a way 
as to favor this expansion and contraction — and we put on this pin- 
ning blanket, whose band is made of unelastic material close up under 
the arms, and pin snugly — over two fingers is the rule — and so spoil 
all the expansive power of the chest during the first weeks and months 
of the infant life. We forget that within these thoracic walls are 
great vital organs, which, during these beginnings of life should have 
the freest, play. Who shall say that much of the Phthisis pulmonalis 
and other lung diseases which scourge our land have not one, at least, 
of their predisposing causes right here? But I have another indict- 
ment against this absurd pinning blanket. One side is folded over 



CLOTHING — SOME NEW IDEAS. 287 

one limb and the other over the other, and then the bottom is folded 
upon the thighs and pinned so that the little one cannot move a limb, 
at which he cries, and we say Colic! and commence to dose him. 
This garment is an abomination, and should be thrown away. 

After this comes the skirt, which has the same objection as the 
pinning blanket — tightness about the chest. Another objection I 
have to all these is, that they clothe the chest warmly and leave the 
shoulders with only a slight covering of muslin — the dress. How a 
more uncomfortable, unphysiological, or inhuman dress could be in- 
vented I can hardly see. The attention of the Humane Society 
should be called to it. 

While I am aware it is easy to find fault, but not so easy to show 
a better way, I am confident I can give you something indefinitely 
better, in "The Gertrude Baby Suit" (this suit takes its name from 
my own little daughter, Gertrude, for whom they were first designed, 
some years ago, and who helped beautifully to illustrate my parlor 
talks on this subject), entirely free from all these objections, per- 
fectly healthful and beautiful, and very convenient to the mother in 
using; then, too, the baby now handles like a baby. 

The under garment should be made of nice fleecy goods — Canton 
flannel is the best we have at present — cut princess, reaching from the 
neck to ten inches (twenty-five inches long) below the feet, with 
sleeves to the wrists, and having all the seams smooth, and the hems 
at the neck, wrist and bottom upon the outside — the latter turned over 
once and felled or cat-stitched with colored worsted — a tie and button 
behind. Here you have a complete fleece-lined garment, comfortable 
and healthy, and one that can be washed without shrinking. The 
next garment is made of baby flannel (woolen), also cut princess, 
same pattern, only one-half inch larger, reaching from the neck to 
twelve or fourteen inches below the feet — to cover the other — with 
generous armholes pinked or scalloped, but not bound, and with two 
buttons behind at the neck, and may be embroidered at pleasure. 
The dress cut princess to match the other garments is preferable. 

The ordinary baby dresses are all right except that I would have 
them only from thirty inches to a yard in length. 

Now, these garments are put together before dressing — sleeve 
within sleeve — and then are put over the little one's head at once and 
buttoned behind, and the baby is dressed, there being but one pin — a 
diaper pin — in baby's dress instead of fifteen. No shoulder blanket 
should be used, because it is sometimes over the head, sometimes 
about the shoulders and neck, and sometimes off entirely, and these 
changes are exposures. Accustom the little one from the first to go 
without it. 

At night the dress should be simply a Canton flannel nightdress 
and a diaper — the dress being not unlike the under garment in the 
suit, only a little longer. It is absurd to think that a child can rest 
sweetly in a diaper, a bandage, a pinning blanket, a skirt and a 
double gown, as many a child is expected to do. A good rule is to 



288 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

A babe's clothing ought to be light, warm, 
loose, and free from pins. // should be light, with- 
out being too airy. Many infants' clothes are both 
too long and too cumbersome. It is really pain- 
ful to see how some poor little babies are weighted 
down with a weight of clothes. They may be 
said to bear the burden, and that a heavy one, 
from the very commencement of their lives. How 
absurd, too, the practice of making them wear 
long clothes. Clothes to cover a child's feet, and 
even a little beyond, may be desirable ; but for 
clothes, when the infant is carried about, to reach 



"dress the little one as you would love to be dressed if you were a 
babe." There is nothing wonderful about this simple dress. The 
only wonder is that we have dressed our little ones so badly so 
long. 

If your husband and I were to go into business together, we 
would sit down and calculate and say: How can we obtain the best 
results with the least outlay of money or labor, and make our business 
abreast of the freshest thought of to-day? But when our young 
mothers go into the business of dressing their first little one, they do 
not ask, "How can I dress the child best in the physiological light of 
to-day? How can I dress it so that it will be perfectly comfortable 
and healthy? How can I dress it with the greatest ease and comfort 
to myself?" but, "How did my grandmother do this?" So they go 
b ck fifty years for their models. All honor to our grandmothers, 
they did beautifully in the light they had — but if our girls of to-day 
do not do better than their grandmothers, they do very badly. The 
main advantages of this method are : 

i. Perfect freedom to all thoracic, abdominal and pelvic 
organs. 

2. That all the clothing shall hang from the shoulders. 

3. The greatest saving of the time and strength of the mother in 
caring for the babe, there being one pin instead of fifteen. 

4. The resulting health and comfort of the child. 

5. The evenness of the covering of the body, there being the 
same covering over the shoulders as elsewhere. 

Let us make the physical life of our babies so perfect and happy 
as to realize the words of Wordsworth : "Heaven lies all about us in 
our infancy." 



CLOTHING — QUALITIES REQUIRED. 289 

to the ground, is foolish and cruel in the extreme. 
I have seen a delicate baby almost ready to faint 
under the infliction. The clothing should be warm, 
without being too warm. The parts that ought 
to be kept warm are the chest, bowels, and feet. 
If the infant is delicate, especially if subject to in- 
flammation of the lungs, he ought to wear a fine 
flannel, instead of his shirts, which should be 
changed as frequently. The dress should be loose, so 
as to prevent any pressure upon the bloodvessels, 
which would otherwise impede the circulation, 
and thus hinder a proper development of the 
parts. It ought to be loose about the chest and 
waist, so that the lungs and heart may have free 
play. It should be loose about the stomach, so 
that digestion may not be impeded ; it ought to be 
loose about the bowels, in order that the spiral 
motion of ihe intestines may not be interfered 
with — hence the importance of putting on a band- 
age moderately slack ; it should be loose about the 
sleeves, so that the blood may course without 
hindrance, through the arteries and veins; it 
ought to be loose everywhere, for nature delights 
in freedom from restraint, and will resent, sooner 
or later, any interference. Oh, that a mother 
would take common sense, and not custom, as her 
guide ! As few pins should be used in the dressing 
of a baby as possible. Inattention to this advice 
has caused many a little sufferer to be thrown into 
convulsions. 

When an infant is sent out for exercise in the 



29O INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

winter time, be sure that he is well wrapped. He 
ought to have under his cloak a knitted worsted 
spencer, which should button behind ; and if the 
weather is very cold, a shawl over all. He will 
then come from his walk refreshed and strength- 
ened, for cold air is an invigorating tonic. In a 
subsequent paragraph I will indicate the proper 
age at which a child should be first sent out to 
take exercise in the open .air. 

In the summer the right time " for shortening a 
babe," as it is called, is at the end of two months ; 
in the winter, at the end of three months. But if 
the right time should happen to be in the spring, 
let it be deferred until the end of May, as the 
spring is usually very trying and treacherous ; and 
sometimes, in April, the weather is almost as cold, 
and the wind as biting as in winter. It is treach- 
erous, for the sun is hot, and the wind at this time 
of the year is frequently easterly, and is keen and 
cutting. I should far prefer to shorten a child in 
the winter than in the early spring. 

Diet.— The infant ought to be given the breast 
soon after birth ; the interest, both of mother and 
child, demand it. It will be advisable to wait two 
or three hours, that the mother may recover from 
her fatigue, and then the babe must be put to the 
breast. If this is done, he will generally take the 
nipple with avidity. 

It may be said, at so early a period that there 
is no milk in the breast ; but such is not usually 
the case. There generally is a little from the very 



HINTS ON NURSING. 29I 

beginning-, which acts like a purgative medicine, 
and appears to be intended by nature to cleanse 
the system of the babe. But, providing there is 
no milk at first, the very act of nursing not only 
gives the child a notion, but at the same time 
causes a draught in the breast, and enables the 
milk to flow easily. 

Of course, if there is no milk in the breast, wait 
a few hours, until the milk is secreted, before ap- 
plying him again to the nipple. 

An infant who is kept from the breast two or 
three days, and fed upon gruel, generally becomes 
feeble, and frequently will not take the nipple at 
all. Besides, there is a thick cream which, if not 
drawn out by the child, may cause inflammation and 
gathering of the breasts, and consequently, great 
suffering to the mother. Placing him early to the 
breast moderates the severity of the mother's after 
pains, and lessens the risk of her flooding. A 
new-born babe must not have gruel given to him, 
as it disorders the bowels, causes a disinclination 
to nurse, and thus makes him feeble. 

If there is no milk at first, wait with patience ; 
the child will not require artificial food for at 
least twelve hours. In the generality of instances, 
artificial food is not at all necessary, but if it 
should be needed, one-third of new milk to two- 
thirds of warm water, slightly sweetened with loaf 
sugar (or with brown sugar, if the babe's bowels 
have not been opened) should be given, in small 
quantities at a time, every four hours, until the 



292 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

milk is secreted, and then it must be discontinued. 
The infant ought to be put alternately to each 
breast every few hours, until he becomes able to 
find nourishment. 

I say alternately to each breast. This is most 
i7nportant advice. Sometimes a child, for some 
inexplicable reason, prefers one breast to the other, 
and the mother, to save a little contention, con- 
cedes the point, and allows him to have his own 
way. And what is frequently the consequence? — 
a gathered breast ! 

We frequently hear of a babe having no notion 
of nursing. This may generally be traced to bad 
management, to stuffing him with food, and thus 
giving him a disinclination to take the nipples at all. 

If a baby were nursed at stated periods, he 
would only look for the breast at those times, and 
be satisfied. A mother is frequently in the habit 
of giving her child the breast every time he cries, 
regardless of the cause. The cause frequently is 
that he has been too often nursed — his stomach 
has been overloaded ; the little fellow is con- 
sequently in pain, and he gives utterance to it by 
cries. How absurd is such a practice ! We may 
as well endeavor to put out a fire by feeding it 
with fuel. An infant ought to be accustomed to 
regularity in everything, in times for nursing, for 
sleeping, etc. No children thrive so well as those 
who are thus early taught. Artificial food must 
not, for the first five or six months, be given, if the 
mother is moderately strong ; if feeble, a little food 



ON SELECTING A WET NURSE. 293 

will be necessary. Many delicate women enjoy 
better health while nursing than at any other 
period of their lives. As a rule, when the child 
and the mother are tolerably strong, he is better 
without artificial food until three or four months 
old ; then it will usually be necessary to feed him 
twice a day, so as gradually to prepare him to be 
weaned at the end of nine months. If it is ascer- 
tained, past all doubt, that a mother cannot nurse 
her child, then a healthy wet nurse should be 
procured, as the food which nature has supplied 
is superior to any invented by art. Never bring 
up a baby, if you can possibly avoid it, on artificial 
food. It is impossible to imitate, perfectly, the 
admirable and subtle chemistry of nature. . The 
law of nature is, that a babe, for the first few 
months of his existence, shall be brought up by 
the breast ; and Nature's law cannot be broken 
with impunity. In selecting a wet nurse, I would 
inquire particularly into the state of her health ; 
whether she is of a healthy family, of consumptive 
habits, or if she or any of her family have the 
scrofula, ascertaining if there are any seams or 
swellings about her neckf; any eruptions or blotches 
upon her skin ; if she has a plentiful breast of milk, 
and if of good quality (which may readily be 
ascertained by drawing a little into a glass) ; if she 
has good nipples, sufficiently long for the baby 
to hold ; that they are not sore ; and if her own 
child is of the same or nearly of the same age 
as the one you wish her to nurse. Ascertain 



294 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

whether she menstruates during- nursing ; if she 
does, the milk is not so good and nourishing, and 
you had better decline taking her. Assure your- 
self that her own babe is strong and healthy, and 
that he is free from a sore mouth and from a 
breaking-out of the skin. Indeed, if possible to 
procure such a wet nurse, she ought to be from 
the country, of ruddy complexion, of clear skin, 
and between twenty and twenty-five years of age. 
The milk will then be fresh, pure, and nourishing. 

I consider it of great importance that the infant 
of the wet nurse should be, as nearly as possible, 
of the same age as your own, as the milk varies in 
quality according to the age of the child. For 
instance, during the commencement of nursing, 
the milk is thick and creamy ; if given to a babe a 
few months old, it would cause derangement of the 
stomach and bowels. After the first few days, the 
appearance of the milk changes ; it becomes of a 
bluish-white color, and contains less nourishment. 
The milk gradually becomes more and more nour- 
ishing as the infant becomes older and requires 
more support. 

In selecting a wet nurse for a very small and 
feeble babe, you must carefully ascertain that the 
nipples of the wet nurse are good and soft, and yet 
not very large ; if very large the child's mouth 
may not be able to hold them. You must note, 
too, whether the milk flows readily from the nip- 
ple into the child's mouth ; if it does not, he may 
not have strength to draw it, and he would 



MORTALITY IN HAND-FED CHILDREN. 295 

soon die of starvation. The only way of ascer- 
taining- whether the infant actually draws the milk 
from the nipple, is by examining the mouth of the 
child immediately after his taking the breast, and 
seeing for yourself whether there is actually milk 
in his mouth. The following extract, from " Play- 
fair's Midwifery," explains the causes of mortality 
in hand-fed children : 

" Much of the mortality following hand-feeding 
may be traced to unsuitable food. Among the 
poorer classes especially there is a prevalent notion 
that milk alone is insufficient ; and hence the 
almost universal custom of administering various 
farinaceous foods, such as corn flour or arrowroot, 
even from the earliest period. Many of these 
consist of starch alone, and are therefore absolutely 
unsuited for forming the staple of diet, on account 
of the total absence of nitrogenous elements. In- 
dependently of this, it has been shown that the 
saliva of infants has not the same digestive prop- 
erty on starch that it subsequently acquires, and 
this affords a further explanation of its so con- 
stantly producing intestinal derangement. Reason, 
as well as experience, abundantly proves that the 
object to be aimed at in hand-feeding is to imitate 
as nearly as possible the food which nature sup- 
plies for the new-born child, and therefore the 
obvious course is to use milk from some animal, 
so treated as to make it resemble human milk as 
nearly as may be." 

Artificial human milk. — An admirable plan of 



296 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

treating cow's milk, so as to reduce it to almost 
absolute chemical identity with human milk has 
been devised by Professor Frankland, to whom I 
am indebted for permission to insert the recipe. 
I have followed this method in many cases, and 
find it far superior to the usual one, as it produces 
an exact and uniform compound. With a little 
practice nurses can employ it with no more trouble 
than the ordinary mixing of cow's milk with water 
and sugar. The following extracts from Dr. 
Frankland's work will explain the principles on 
which the preparation of the artificial human milk 
is founded : " The rearing of infants, who cannot 
be supplied with their natural food, is notoriously 
difficult and uncertain, owing chiefly to the great 
difference in the chemical composition of human 
milk and cow's milk. The latter is much richer in 
casein, and poorer in milk-sugar than the former, 
while asses' milk, which is sometimes used for feed- 
ing infants, is too poor in casein and butter, 
although the proportion of sugar is nearly the 
same as in human milk. The relations of the three 
kinds of milk to each other are clearly seen from 
the following analytical numbers, which express 
the percentage amounts of the different constit- 
uents : 

Woman. Ass. Cow. 

"Casein 2.7 1.7 4.2 

Butter 3.5 1.3 3.8 

Milk-sugar 5.0 4.5 3.8 

Salts 2 .5 .7 

rt These numbers show that by the removal of 



ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK. 297 

one-third of the casein from cow's milk and the 
addition of about one-third more milk-sugar a 
liquid is obtained which closely approaches human 
milk in composition, the percentage amounts of 
the four chief constituents being as follows: 

"Casein 2.8 

Butter 3.8 

Milk-sugar 5.0 

Salts 7 

" The following is the mode of preparing the 
milk : Allow one-third of a pint of new milk to 
stand for about twelve hours, remove the cream 
and add to it two-thirds of a pint of new milk, as 
fresh from the cow as possible. Into the one-third 
of a pint of blue milk left after the abstraction of 
the cream, put a piece of rennet about an inch 
square. Set the vessel in warm water, until the 
milk is fully curdled, an operation requiring from 
five to fifteen minutes, according to the activity of 
the rennet, which should be removed as soon as 
the curdling commences, and put into an egg cup 
for use on subsequent occasions, as it may be em- 
ployed daily for a month or two. Break up the 
curd repeatedly, and carefully separate the whole 
of the whey, which should then be rapidly heated 
to boiling in a small tin pan placed over a spirit or 
gas lamp. During the heating a further quantity 
of casein, technically called ' fleetings,' separates, 
and must be removed by straining through muslin. 
Now dissolve no grains of powdered sugar of 
milk in the hot whey, and mix it with two-thirds 



298 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

of a pint of new milk to which the cream from the 
other third of a pint was added as already de- 
scribed. The artificial milk should be used within 
twelve hours of its preparation, and it is almost 
needless to add that all the vessels employed in 
its manufacture and administration should be kept 
scrupulously clean." 

" Never give the child the white rubber nipple 
nursing- bottle, since it contains in its composition 
the carbonate of lead, which is a sure poison — 
sometimes slow, but none the less sure. I have 
watched the effects of the white rubber nipple for 
many years ; have known cases of spinal curva- 
ture, one of complete humpback, often decayed 
teeth, innumerable cases of sore mouth, and dysen- 
tery or diarrhoea, many times causing death, large 
indolent boils on the scalp, eruptions behind the 
ears and in the folds of the neck, in consequence 
of nursing the rubber nipple. All rubber gum 
rings and toys should be avoided ; indeed, I wish 
everything made from the white rubber could be 
banished from the nursery. Any babe can be fed 
at first with a spoon, and in a few weeks it will 
drink from a cup or glass. If any artificial nipple 
must be used one of silver, glass or porcelain can 
be procured. The black rubber may not be as 
objectionable as the white. I have known a very 
good artificial nipple to be made of fine sponge, 
with cambric linen covering it. A small quill 
stitched in thoroughly is passed through the center 
nearly to the cover, and by fitting the sponge over 



DIET — ARTIFICIAL FOODS. 299 

the top of a small sized bottle, it answers a good 
purpose. The vessels and tubes can scarcely be 
kept clean of any nursing bottles, and here is 
another plea for teaching a child that must be fed, 
to drink from a cup or glass." 

If for any reason it becomes impossible to follow 
the above directions, then give the following milk- 
water-and-sugar-of-milk food: 

Fresh milk, from one cow; 

Warm water, of each a quarter of a pint, 

Sugar-of-milk, one teaspoonful. 

The sugar-of-milk should first be dissolved in 
the warm water, and then the fresh milk unboiled 
should be mixed with it. The sweetening of the 
above food with sugar-of-milk, instead of with 
lump sugar, makes the food more resemble the 
mother's own milk. The infant will not, probably, 
at first take more than half of the above quantity 
at a time, even if he does so much as that ; but 
still the above are the proper proportions, and as 
he grows older, he will require the whole of it at 
a meal. Or the following milk-water-salt-and-sugar 
food, should be given : 

New milk, the produce of one healthy cow; 

Warm water, of each, equal parts; 

Table salt, a few grains — a small pinch; 

Lump sugar, a sufficient quantity to slightly sweeten it. 

The milk itself ought not to be heated over the 
fire,* but should, as above directed, be warmed by 

*It now and then happens, that if the milk is not boiled, the 
motions of an infant are offensive; when such is the case, let the milk 
be boiled, but not otherwise. 



300 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

water ; it must be fresh morning and evening 
The milk and water should be of the same temper- 
ature as the mother's milk, viz., ninety degrees 
Fahrenheit. The milk should be gradually in- 
creased as the child grows older, and the water de- 
creased, until two-thirds of milk and one-third of 
water is used, but remember, that either much or 
little water must always be given with the milk. 

The great desideratum is to make the food re- 
semble as much as possible a mother's own milk. 

As soon as the child begins to cut his teeth the 
case is altered, and farinaceous food, with milk and 
with water, becomes an absolute necessity. 

I wish to call especial attention to the following 
facts, for they are facts : Farinaceous foods, of 
all kinds, before the child commences cutting his 
teeth (which is when he is about six or seven 
months old) are worse than useless— they are posi- 
tively injurious ; they are, during the early period 
of infant life, perfectly indigestible, and may bring 
on convulsions. A babe fed on farinaceous food 
alone would certainly die of starvation. 

A babe's salivary glands do not secrete its 
proper fluid — namely, ptyalin, and consequently 
the starch of the farinaceous food is not converted 
into dextrine and grape sugar, and is therefore 
perfectly indigestible and useless, nay, injurious 
to an infant, and may bring on pain, convulsions, 
and even death. The giving of farinaceous food 
until a child is six or seven months old, is one, and 
the principal cause of the frightful infant mor- 



DIET — ARTIFICIAL FOODS. 3OI 

tality at the present time, and which is a disgrace 
to any civilized land ! 

After a child begins teething any of the follow- 
ing foods may be given : The food that suits one 
infant, however, will not agree with another. 
(1) The one that I have found the most useful, is 
made as follows: Boil the crumb of bread for 
two hours in water, taking particular care that it 
does not burn, then add only a little loaf-sugar (or 
brown sugar, if the bowels are costive) to make it 
palatable. Mix a little new milk — the milk of ONE 
cow — with it, gradually as it becomes older, in- 
crease the quantity until it is nearly all milk, there 
being only enough water to boil the bread ; the 
milk should be poured boiling hot on the bread. 
Sometimes the two milks — the mother's and the 
cow's milk — do not agree ; when such is the case, 
let the milk be left out, both in this and in the 
foods following, and make the food with water, 
instead of with milk and water. In other respects, 
until the child is weaned, make as above directed ; 
when he is weaned, good fresh cow's milk MUST, 
as previously recommended, be used. (2) Or cut 
thin slices of bread into a basin, cover the bread 
with cold water, place it in an oven for two hours 
to bake ; take it out, beat the bread up with a fork, 
and then slightly sweeten it. This is an excellent 
food. (3) Another good food is the following: 
Take about a pound of flour, put it in a cloth, tie 
it up tightly, place it in a saucepanful of water, 
and let it boil for four or five hours ; then take it 



302 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

out, peel off the outer rind, and the inside will be 
found quite dry, which grate. (4) Another way 
of preparing an infant's food, is to bake flour — 
biscuit flour — in a slow oven, until of a light fawn 
color. Baked flour ought, after it is baked, to be 
reduced, by means of a rolling-pin, to fine powder, 
and should then be kept in a covered tin, ready 
for use. (5 ) An excellent food for a baby is baked 
crumbs of bread, prepared as follows: Crumb 
some bread on a plate ; put it a little distance from 
the fire to dry. When dry, rub the crumbs in a 
mortar, and reduce them to a fine powder, then 
pass them through a sieve. Having done this, put 
in a slow oven, and bake until they are of a light 
fawn color. A small quantity of the boiled, or 
baked flour, or the baked crumbs of bread, ought 
to be made into food, in the same way as gruel is 
made, and should then be slightly sweetened, ac- 
cording to the state of the bowels, either with loaf 
or brown sugar. (6) Baked flour sometimes pro- 
duces constipation ; when such is the case, a mix- 
ture of baked flour, and prepared oatmeal, in the 
proportion of two of the former and one -of the 
latter, should be used. To avoid the constipating 
effects, I have always had mixed, before baking, 
one part of prepared oatmeal with two parts of 
flour ; this compound I have found both nourish- 
ing and regulating to the bowels. One table- 
spoonful of it, mixed with a quarter of a pint of 
milk, or milk and water, when well boiled, flavored 
and sweetened with white sugar, produces a thick, 



DIET — ARTIFICIAL FOODS. 303 

nourishing, and delicious food for infants or inva- 
lids. I know of no food, after repeated trials, that 
can be so strongly recommended by the profession 
to all mothers in the rearing of their infants, with- 
out or with the aid of the breasts, at the same time 
relieving them of much draining and dragging 
while nursing with an insufficiency of milk, as 
baked flour and oatmeal. (7) The following is a 
good and nourishing food for a baby : Soak for 
an hour some best rice in cold water, strain and 
add fresh water to the rice, then let it simmer till 
it will pulp through a sieve ; put the pulp and the 
water in a saucepan, with a lump or two of sugar, 
and again let it simmer for a quarter of an hour ; a 
portion of this should be mixed with one-third of 
fresh milk, so as to make it of the consistence of good 
cream. This is an excellent food for weak bowels. 
New milk should be added to any of the above 
articles of food, in a similar way to that recom- 
mended for boiled bread. 

If a child's bowels are relaxed and weak, or if 
the motions are offensive, the milk must be boiled, 
but not otherwise. The following (8) is a good 
food when an infant's bowels are weak and re- 
laxed : " Into five large spoonfuls of the purest 
water, rub smooth one dessert-spoonful of fine 
flour. Set over the fire five spoonfuls of new milk, 
and put two bits of sugar into it ; the moment it 
boils, pour into it the flour and water, and stir it 
over a slow fire twenty minutes." 

Where there is much emaciation, I have found 



304 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

genuine arrowroot a very valuable article of food 
for an infant, as it contains a great deal of starch, 
which helps to form fat and to evolve heat ; both 
of which a poor emaciated, chilly child stands so 
much in need of. It must be made with equal 
parts of water and of good fresh milk, and ought 
to be slightly sweetened with loaf sugar ; a small 
pinch of table salt should be added to it. 

Arrowroot will not give bone and muscle ; but 
it will give — what is very needful to a delicate 
child — fat and warmth. It is principally com- 
posed of starch, and comes under the same 
category as cream, butter, sugar, oil and fat. Ar- 
rowroot should always be given with new milk 
(mixed with one-half of water) ; it will then fulfill, 
to perfection, the exigencies of nourishing, of 
warming, and fattening the child's body. 

New milk is the only food, which of itself alone ', 
will nourish, and warm and fatten. It is, for a 
child, par excellejice, the food of foods ! 

Arrowroot, and all other farinaceous foods are, 
for a child, only supplemental to milk. Bear in 
mind, and let there be no mistake about it, that fari- 
naceous food is not suitable for a child until he 
begins to cut his teeth ; until then the " Artificial 
human milk" is the best food for a dry-nursed 
child. 

I have given a large and well-tried infant's 
dietary to choose from, as it is sometimes difficult 
to fix on one that will suit ; but remember, if one 
of the above agree, keep to it, as a babe requires 
a simplicity in food — a child a greater variety. 



MANNER OF FEEDING. 305 

Let me insist upon the necessity of great care 
and attention being observed in the preparation of 
any of the above articles of diet. A babe's stomach 
is very delicate, and will revolt at either ill-made, 
lumpy, or burnt food. Great care ought to be 
observed as to the cleanliness of the cooking 
utensils. The above directions require the strict 
supervision of the mother. 

Broths have been recommended, but I think 
they are objectionable for a young infant. They 
are apt to turn to acid on the stomach, and to 
cause flatulence and sickness. Sometimes they 
disorder the bowels, and induce griping and 
purging. 

Whatever artificial food is used ought to be 
given by means of a bottle, not only as it is a more 
natural way than any other of feeding a baby, as 
it causes him to nurse as though he were drawing 
it from the mother's breasts, but as the act of nurs- 
ing causes the salivary glands to press out their 
contents, which materially assists digestion ; besides 
it seems to satisfy and comfort him more than it 
otherwise would do. 

The food ought to be of the consistence of 
good cream, and should be made fresh each time. 
It ought to be given milk-warm. Very little sugar 
should be used in the food, as much sugar weakens 
the digestion. A small pinch of table salt ought 
to be added to whatever food is given. Salt is 
most wholesome — it strengthens and assists diges- 
tion, prevents the formation of worms, and, in 



306 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

small quantities, may be given with advantage to 
the youngest babe. 

When it is found necessary to give an infant 
artificial food while nursing, he ought not to be 
fed oftener than twice during the twenty-four 
hours, and then only in small quantities at a time, 
as the stomach requires rest, and can digest only 
a little food. Let me again urge upon mothers 
the importance, if at all practicable, of keeping 
the child entirely to the breast for the first five or 
six months of his existence. Remember, there is 
no absolute substitute for a mother's milk; there 
is no food so well adapted to his stomach ; there is 
no diet equal in developing muscles, in making 
bone or in producing that beautiful plump rounded 
contour of the limbs ; there is nothing like a 
mother's milk alone in making a child contented 
and happy, in laying the foundation of a healthy 
constitution, in preparing the body for a long life, 
in giving him tone to resist disease, or in causing 
him to cut his teeth easily and well ; in short, the 
mother s milk is the greatest temporal blessing an 
infant can possess. 

In passing, allow me to urge you never to stuff 
a babe — never to overload his' little stomach ; it 
is far more desirable to give him too little than too 
much. Many a poor child, like a young bird, is 
killed with stuffing. If a child is at the breast, 
and at the breast alone, there is no fear of his 
taking too much, but if brought up on artificial 
food, there is great fear of his overloading his 



DENTITION. 307 

stomach. Stuffing a child brings on vomiting and 
bowel complaints, and a host of other diseases 
which would be tedious to enumerate. Let me 
urge you, on no account, to overload the stomach 
of a little child. 

A small quantity of sugar in an infant's food is 
requisite, sugar being nourishing and fattening, 
and causing cow's milk to resemble somewhat in 
its properties human milk; but bear in mind, it 
must be used sparingly. Much sugar cloys the 
stomach, weakens the digestion, produces acidity, 
sour belchings and wind. 

Dentition. — The period at which dentition com- 
mences is uncertain. It may be said that, as a 
rule, a babe begins teething when seven months 
old. Some have cut teeth at three months; in- 
deed, there are instances on record of infants having 
been born with teeth. On the other hand, teething, 
in some children, does not commence until they 
are a year and a half or two years old, and, in 
rare cases, not until they are three years old. 
There are cases recorded of adults who have 
never cut any teeth. An instance of the kind came 
under my own observation. If an infant is fever- 
ish, irritable, or otherwise restless, and the gums 
hot, swollen and tender, lancing will, in the gen- 
erality of cases, almost instantly relieve them. 

It has been asserted that lancing the gums 
hardens them ; this is a mistake — it has a contrary 
effect. It is a well-known fact, that a part which 
has been divided gives way much more readily 



308 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

than one which has not been cut. Again, the 
tooth is bound down by a tight membrane, which, 
if not released by lancing, frequently brings on 
convulsions. If the symptoms are urgent, it may 
be necessary from time to time to repeat the 
lancing. But it would be the height of folly to 
lance the gums unless they are hot and swollen, 
and the tooth, or teeth, near at hand. It is not to 
be considered a panacea for every baby's ill, 
although in those cases where lancing the gums 
is indicated, the beneficial effect is sometimes 
almost magical. 

The proper person to lance the gums is a 
doctor. But if, perchance, you should be miles 
away and out of reach of one, it would be well 
to know how the operation ought to be performed. 
Lay the child on the nurse's lap upon his back, 
and let her take hold of his hands in order that he 
may not interfere with the operation. Then, if it 
is the tipper gum that requires lancing, go to the 
head of the child, looking over into his mouth, 
and steady the gum with the index finger of your 
left hand. Take the gum-lancet with your right 
hand — holding it as if it were a table-knife at 
dinner — and cut firmly along the inflamed and 
swollen gum and down to the tooth, until the edge 
of the gum-lancet grates on the tooth. Each 
incision ought to extend along the ridge of the 
gum to about the extent of each expected tooth. 

If it is the lower gum that requires lancing, go 
to the side of the child and steady the outside of 



DENTITION— DISORDERS. 30g 

the jaw with the fingers of the left hand, and the 
gum with the left thumb, and then perform the 
operation as before directed. 

Although lancing gums to make it intelligible to 
a non-professional person, requires a long descrip- 
tion, it is a simple affair, soon performed, and gives 
but little pain. 

If teething causes convulsions, the first thing to 
be done is to freely dash water upon the face, and 
sponge the head with cold water. As soon as 
warm water can be procured, put the child into 
a warm bath* of 98 degrees Fahrenheit. If a 
thermometer is not at hand,f plunge your elbow 
into the water ; a comfortable heat for your elbow 
will be a proper heat for the infant. He must re- 
main in the bath for a quarter of an hour, or until 
the fit is at an end. The body must be wiped with 
warm, dry, coarse towels after coming out of 
the bath, then placed in a warm blanket. The 
gums must be lanced, and cold water should be 
applied to the head. An enema, composed of 
table salt, olive oil and warm oatmeal gruel — in 
the proportion of a tablespoonful of salt, to one of 
oil, and a teacupful ol gruel — ought to be admin- 
istered; and until the bowels have been well 
opened, should be repeated every quarter of an 
hour ; as soon as he comes to himself laxative 
medicine ought to be given. 

*For the precautions to be used in putting a child into a warm 
bath, see the paragraph on " Warm Baths." 

fNo family, where there are young children, should be without 
Fahrenheit's thermometer. 



310 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM, 

It may be well, for the comfort of a mother, to 
state that a child in convulsions is perfectly insen- 
sible to all pain whatever ; indeed, a return to con- 
sciousness speedily puts convulsions to the rout. 
A nurse is often in the habit of giving a child who 
is teething, either coral, or ivory, to bite. I think 
it a bad practice to give him any hard, unyielding 
substance, as it tends to harden the gums, and by 
so doing, causes the teeth to come through with 
greater difficulty. I have found softer substances, 
such as either piece of a wax taper, or a black India 
rubber ring, or a piece of the best bridle leather, of 
great service. The pressure of any of these excites 
a more rapid absorption of the gum, and thus causes 
the tooth to come through easily and quickly. 

When a baby is cutting his teeth there is no 
objection to his sucking his thumb. The thumb is 
the best gum-stick in the world; it is convenient; 
it is handy (in every sense of the word); it is of the 
right size, and of the proper consistence, neither 
too hard nor too soft ; there is no danger, as of 
some artificial gum-sticks, of its being swallowed, 
and thus of its choking the child. The sucking of 
the thumb causes the salivary glands to pour out 
their contents, and thus not only to moisten the dry 
mouth, but assist the digestion ; the pressure of 
the thumb eases the pain and irritation of the 
gums, and helps to bring them through the gums. 
Sucking of the thumb will often make a cross 
infant contented and happy, and will frequently 
induce a restless babe to fall into a sweet, refresh- 



TEETHING — TREATMENT. 3 1 1 

ing sleep. By all means, then, let your child suck 
his thumb whenever he likes, as long as he chooses 
to do so. After he has cut the whole of his first 
set of teeth, if it is likely to become a habit, 
he may be readily cured by making a paste of 
aloes and water, and smearing it upon his thumb. 
One or two dressings will suffice, as after tasting 
the bitter aloes he will take a disgust to his former 
enjoyment, and the habit will be broken. 

A child who is teething dribbles, and thereby 
wets his chest, which frequently causes him to 
catch cold. The best remedy is to have in readi- 
ness several flannel dribbling bibs, so that they 
may be changed as often as they become wet ; or, 
if he dribbles very much, the oiled silk bibs may be 
used, instead of the flannel ones. 

A child, during teething, should have little 
fruit, unless it is a few ripe strawberries, raspber- 
ries, a roasted apple, the juice of five or six grapes 
— taking care that he does not swallow either the 
seeds or the skin — the inside of ripe gooseberries, 
or an orange. Such fruits, if the bowels are in a 
costive state, will be particularly useful. 

All stone fruits, razv apples or pears, ought to be 
carefully avoided, as they not only disorder the 
stomach and the bowels, — causing convulsions, 
gripings, etc., — but the)- have the effect of weaken- 
ing the bowels, and thus of engendering worms. 

The teeth are a fruitful source of suffering and 
of disease ; and are with truth styled our first and 
our last plagues. Dentition is the most important 



312 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

period of a child's life, and is the exciting cause of 
many infantile diseases. During this period he 
requires constant and careful watching. When 
we consider how the teeth elongate and enlarge 
in his gums, pressing on the nerves and the sur- 
rounding parts, and how frequently they produce 
pain, irritation and inflammation; when we con- 
template what sympathy there is in the nervous 
system, and how susceptible the young, are to 
pain, no surprise can be felt at the immense dis- 
turbance, and consequent suffering and danger 
frequently experienced by children while cutting 
their first set of teeth. The complaints or diseases 
induced by dentition are numberless, affecting 
almost every organ of the body, — the brain, occa- 
sioning convulsions, water on the brain, etc.; the 
lungs, producing congestion, inflammation, cough, 
etc.; the stomach, exciting sickness, flatulence, acid- 
ity, etc.; the bowels, inducing griping, at one time 
costiveness, and at another time purging ; the skin, 
causing eruptions. 

To prevent these diseases, means ought to be 
used to invigorate a child's constitution by plain, 
wholesome food, as recommended under the article 
on the diet ; by exercise and fresh air ; by allowing 
him to be out of doors a great part of every 
pleasant day ; by lancing the gums when they get 
red, hot and swollen ; by attention to the bowels, 
and if he suffers more than usual, by keeping them 
rather in a relaxed state by any simple aperient ; 
and, let me add, by attention to his temper; many 



TEETHING — TREATMENT. 313 

children are made feverish and ill by petting and 
spoiling them. 

Painful dentition may be divided into two forms, 
the mild and the severe. In the mild form the 
child is peevish and fretful, and puts his fingers, 
and everything within reach, to his mouth ; he 
likes to have his gums rubbed, and takes the breast 
with avidity ; indeed, it seems a greater comfort 
to him than ever. There is generally a con- 
siderable flow of saliva, and a tendency to a re- 
laxed condition of the bowels. 

In the severe form the gums are red, swollen and 
hot, and he cannot bear to have then touched ; 
hence at the breast, he is constantly losing the 
nipple. There is dryness of the mouth, although 
before there had been a great flow of saliva. He 
is feverish, restless, and starts up in his sleep. His 
face is flushed. His head is heavy and hot. He 
is sometimes convulsed. He is frequently vio- 
lently griped and purged, and suffers severely 
from flatulence. He is predisposed to many and 
several diseases. 

The treatment of the mild form consists of fric- 
tion of the gum with the finger, with a little 
soothing syrup, * a tepid-bath of about 92 degrees 
Fahrenheit, every night at bedtime ; attention to 



* "Soothing syrup." Some of them probably contain opiates, but 
a perfectly safe and useful one is a little Nitrate of Potass in Syrup of 
Roses — one scruple to half an ounce. This soothing syrup is not 
intended to be given as a mixture; but to be used as an application 
to rub the gums with. It may be well to state that it is a perfectly 
harmless remedy, even if a little of it were swallowed by mistake. 



314 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

diet and to bowels ; fresh air and exercise. For 
the mild form, the above plan will usually be all 
that is required. If he dribbles, and the bowels are 
relaxed, so much the better ; the flow of saliva and 
the increased action of the bowels afford relief, and 
must not be interfered with. In the mild form 
lancing- of the gums is not desirable. The gums 
ought not to be lanced, unless the teeth are near 
at hand, and unless the gums are red, hot and 
swollen. 

In the severe form a doctor should be consulted 
early, as more energetic remedies will be de- 
manded ; the gums will require lancing, warm 
baths will need to be used, and medicines to be 
given, to ward off mischief from the head, the 
chest and the stomach. 

If you are living in town, and your baby suffers 
much from teething, take him into the country. 
It is wonderful what change of air will often do, 
in relieving a child who is painfully cutting his 
teeth. The number of deaths in cities from teeth- 
ing is frightful, in the country it is comparatively 
trifling. 

Should an infant be purged during teething, or 
any other time, I should' look upon the relaxation 
as an effort of nature to relieve itself. A child is 
never purged without a cause ; that cause, in most 
instances, is the presence of some undigested food, 
acidity,- or depraved motions, and no astringent 
medicine should be given. The better plan is to 
give laxatives such as either castor oil, or magnesia 



TEETHING — TREATMENT. 315 

and rhubarb, and thus work it off. If we lock 

UP THE BOWELS, WE CONFINE THE ENEMY, AND 

THUS PRODUCE MISCHIEF. If he is purged more 
than usual, attention should be paid to the diet, 
and care must be taken not to overload the 
stomach. 

A child is subject to a slight cough during 
dentition, which is an effort of nature to bring up 
any secretion from the lining membrane of the 
lungs, or from the bronchial tubes, hence it ought 
not to be interfered with. I have known the ad- 
ministration of syrup of white poppies, or of 
paregoric, to stop the cough, and thereby to pre- 
vent the expulsion of the phlegm, and thus to 
produce either inflammation of the lungs, or bron- 
chitis. Both paregoric and syrup of white poppies 
are dangerous medicines (unless administered by 
a judicious physician), and ought never to be given 
by a mother. 

A child while teething, is subject to eruptions, 
more especially behind the ears — which is most 
disfiguring, and frequently very annoying. I 
would apply no external application to cure it, as 
I should look upon it as an effort of the consti- 
tution to relieve itself ; and should expect, if the 
breaking-out were repelled, that either convulsions, 
or bronchitis, or inflammation of the lungs, or 
water on the brain, would be the consequence. 
The only plan I should adopt would be, to be 
more careful in his diet; to give him less meat (if 
he is old enough to eat animal food), and to give 



316 INFANTS-^AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

him, once or twice a week, some mild laxative, 
and if the irritation is great, to bathe it occa- 
sionally with a little warm milk and water, or with 
rose water. 

Exercise. — I am a great advocate of exercise in 
the open air. " The infant makes known its desire 
for fresh air, by restlessness ; it cries, for it cannot 
speak its wants ; is taken abroad, and is quiet." 
The age at which he ought to commence taking 
exercise will depend upon the season and the 
weather. If in summer, and the weather fine, he 
should be carried in the open air, a week or two 
after birth, but if it is winter, he ought not on anv 
account be taken out under a month, and not even 
then, unless the weather is mild for the season, 
and during the middle of the day. At the end of 
two months he should breathe the open air more 
frequently. And after the expiration of three 
months he ought to be carried out every day. By 
doing this we shall make him strong and hearty, 
and give the skin that mottled appearance which 
is so characteristic of health. He must, of course, 
be well clothed. 

I cannot help expressing my disapprobation of 
the practice of smothering up an infant's face with 
a handkerchief, a veil, or any other covering when 
he is taken out into the air. If his face is so 
muffled up, he may as well remain at home ; as it 
is impossible for him to receive any benefit from 
the invigorating effects of the fresh air. 

He must be encouraged to use muscular exertion; 



EXERCISE — REST. 3 1 7 

and, for this purpose, he ought to be frequently 
laid upon a rug, or carpet, or the floor, where he 
can stretch his limbs and kick about with perfect 
glee. It is a pretty sight to see a little fellow 
kicking and sprawling on the floor. He crows 
with delight, and thoroughly enjoys himself; it 
strengthens his back, it enables him to stretch his 
limbs, and to use his muscles, and is one of the 
best kinds of exercise a very young child can 
take. While going through this exercise his 
diaper should be unfastened, in order that he may 
be untrammeled. By adopting the above plan 
the babe quietly enjoys himself — his brain is not 
over excited by it. This is an important consider- 
ation, for both mothers and nurses are apt to 
rouse and excite very young children to their 
manifest detriment. A babe requires rest, and not 
excitement. In the early period of his existence 
his time ought to be almost entirely spent in 
sleeping and in nursing ! 

Some mothers or nurses amuse their children 
by tossing them. Can anything be more cruel or 
absurd ? Violent tossing of a young babe ought 
never to be allowed ; it only frightens him, and has 
been known to bring on convulsions. He should 
be gently moved up and down (not tossed); such 
exercises cause a proper circulation of the blood, 
promote digestion, and soothe to sleep. He 
must always be kept quiet immediately after 
taking the breast ; if he is tossed directly after- 
ward,, it interieres with his digestion, and is 
likely to produce sickness. 



318 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

A new-born babe ought to be kept comfortably 
warm, but not very warm. It is folly in the ex- 
treme to attempt to harden a very young child 
either by allowing him, in the winter time, to be 
in a bedroom without a fire, or by dipping him in 
cold water, or by keeping him with scant clothing 
on his bed. The temperature of a bedroom in 
winter should be, as nearly as possible, at 60 de- 
grees Fahr. Although the room should be com- 
fortably warm, it ought from time to time to be 
properly ventilated. An unventilated room soon 
becomes foul and unhealthy. How many in this 
world, both children and adults, are poisoned with 
their own breaths ! 

An infant should not be allowed to look at the 
glare of a fire or a lighted candle, as it tends to 
weaken the sight, and sometimes brings on in- 
flammation of the eyes. In speaking to, and in 
noticing a baby, you ought always to stand before, 
and not behind him, or it might make him squint. 

A babe ought not to sleep alone from the first, 
say, for the first few months — he requires the 
warmth of another person's body, especially in 
the winter ; but care must be taken not to overlay 
him, as many infants, from carelessness in this 
particular, have lost their lives. After the first 
few months he had better sleep alone, on a hair 
mattress. 

I do not approve of rocking an infant to sleep. 
If the rules of health are observed, he will sleep 
soundly and sweetly without rocking ; if they are 



SLEEP. 319 

not, the rocking might cause him to fall into a 
feverish, disturbed slumber, but not into a refresh- 
ing, calm sleep. Besides, if you begin that habit, 
he will not go to sleep without it. A rocking 
chair, or rockers to the cradle, may be useful to a 
lazy nurse or mother, and may induce a child to 
sleep, but that restlessly, when he does not need 
sleep, or when he is wet and uncomfortable, and 
requires changing, but will not cause him to have 
that sweet and gentle and exquisite slumber so 
characteristic of a baby who has no artificial ap- 
pliances to make him sleep. Rockers are perfectly 
unnecessary, and the sooner they are banished 
from the nursery the better will it be for the 
infant community. I do not know a more weari- 
some and monotonous sound than the everlasting 
rocking to and fro in some nurseries ; they are 
often accompanied by a dolorous lullaby from the 
nurse, which adds much to the misery and 
depressing influence of the performance. 

If the head of the crib is covered, the babe can- 
not breathe freely ; the air within the crib be- 
comes contaminated, and thus the lungs cannot 
properly perform their functions. If his sleep is 
to be refreshing, he must breathe pure air. I do 
not even approve of a head to a crib. An infant 
must have the full benefit of the air of the room ; 
indeed, the bedroom door ought to be frequently 
left slightly open, so that the air of the apartment 
may be changed ; taking care, of course, not to 
expose him to a draught. If the flies annoy him 



320 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

while he is asleep, let a net veil be thrown over his 
face, as he can readily breathe through net, but 
not through a handkerchief. 

Whenever he is put down to sleep, be more than 
usually particular that his dress is loose in every 
part ; be careful that there are neither strings nor 
bands to cramp him. Let him during repose, be 
more than ordinarily free and unrestrained. 

A babe who sleeps a great deal thrives much 
more than one who does not. I have known many 
children, who were born small and delicate, but 
who slept the greater part of their time, to become 
strong and healthy. On the other hand, I have 
known those who were born large and strong, yet 
who slept but little, become weak and unhealthy. 
The common practice of allowing a baby to sleep 
upon the nurse's lap is a bad one, and ought never 
to be countenanced. He sleeps cooler, and more 
comfortably and soundly in his crib. The younger 
an infant is the more he generally sleeps, so that 
during the early months he is seldom awake, and 
then only to take the breast. 

If there is pain in any part of the body, or if 
any of the functions are not properly performed, 
he sleeps but little. On the contrary, if there is 
exemption from pain, and a due performance of 
all the functions, he sleeps a great deal ; and thus 
the body becomes refreshed and invigorated. 

Much sleep is of great advantage, still if an in- 
fant sleeps but little, composing medicine ought 
not to be given to him. The practice of giving 



CAUSES OF SUFFOCATION. 32 1 

composing medicine to a young child cannot be too 
strongly reprobated. If he does not sleep enough 
the mother ought to ascertain if the bowels are 
in a proper state, that the motions are of a good 
color — a bright yellow, inclining to orange — and 
free from slime or from bad smell. An occa- 
sional dose of rhubarb and magnesia is frequently 
the best composing medicine he can take. 

We often hear of coroner's inquests upon in- 
fants who have been found dead in bed — accident- 
ally overlaid, — usually the cause is suffocation, 
produced either by ignorance, or by carelessness. 
From ignorance in mothers, in their not knowing 
the common laws of life, and the vital importance 
of free and unrestricted respiration, not only when 
babies are up and about, but when they are in bed 
and asleep. From carelessness, in their allowing 
young and thoughtless servants to have the charge 
of infants at night ; more especially as young girls 
are usually heavy sleepers, and are thus too much 
overpowered with sleep to attend to their neces- 
sary duties. 

A foolish mother sometimes goes to sleep al- 
lowing her child to continue nursing. The uncon- 
scious babe, after a time, loses the nipple, and 
buries its head in the bedclothes. She awakes in 
the morning, finding, to her horror, a corpse by 
her side, with his nose flattened, and a frothy fluid, 
tinged with blood, exuding from his lips. A 
mother ought never to go to sleep until her child 
has finished nursing. 



322 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

The following are a few rules to "prevent an in- 
fant from being accidentally overlaid: Let your 
baby, while asleep, have plenty of room in the bed. 
Do not allow him to be too near To you ; or if un- 
avoidably near you (from the small size of the 
bed), let his face be turned to the opposite side. 
Let him lie fairly either on his side or on his back. 
Be careful to ascertain that his mouth is not cov- 
ered with the bedclothes; and do not smother 
his face with clothes, as a plentiful supply of pure 
air is as necessary when he is asleep as when he is 
awake. Never let him lie low in the bed. Let 
there be no pillow near the one his head is resting 
on, lest he roll to it, and thus bury his head in it. 
Remember, a young child has neither the strength 
nor the sense to get out of danger ; and if he turns 
on his face, or buries his head in a pillow that is 
near, the chances are that he will be suffocated, 
more especially as these accidents usually occur at 
night, when the mother, or the nurse, is fast asleep. 
Never intrust him at night to a young and thought- 
less servant. 

A mother ought daily to satisfy herself as to the 
state of the bladder and the bowels of her child. 
She herself should inspect the motions, and see 
that they are of a proper color (bright yellow, in- 
clining to orange) and consistence (that of thick 
gruel), that they are neither slimy, nor curdled, 
nor green ; if they should be either the one or the 
other, it is a proof that she has, in all probability, 
been imprudent in her diet, and that it will be 



SLIGHT AILMENTS. 323 

necessary for the future that she be more careful 
both in what she eats and in what she drinks. 

She ought to satisfy herself that the urine does 
not smell strongly, that it does not stain the 
diapers, and that the child makes a sufficient 
quantity. 

A babe of three months and upward, ought to 
be held out at least a dozen times during the 
twenty-four hours ; if such a plan were adopted, 
diapers might at the end of three months be dis- 
pensed with — a great desideratum — and he would 
be inducted into clean habits — a blessing to him- 
self, a comfort to all around, and a great saving of 
dresses and of furniture. Teach your children to 
be clean. A dirty child is the mother's disgrace. 
Truer words were never written — A dirty child 

IS THE MOTHER'S DISGRACE. 

There are many slight ailments which are not 
of sufficient importance to demand the assistance 
of a doctor. I consider it well to make the dis- 
tinction between serious and slight ailments ; I am 
addressing a mother. With regard to serious ail- 
ments, I do not think myself justified, except in 
certain urgent cases, in instructing a parent to deal 
with them. It might be well to make a mother 
acquainted with the symptoms, but not with the 
treatment, in order that she might lose no time in 
calling in medical aid. Serious diseases, with a few 
exceptions, ought never to be treated by a parent, 
not even in the early stages, for it is in the early 
stages that the most good can generally be done. 



324 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

It is utterly impossible for any one who is not 
trained to the medical profession to understand a 
serious disease in all its bearings, and thereby to 
treat it satisfactorily. 

There are some exceptions to these remarks. 
It will be seen in future, that a mother ought to 
be made acquainted with the treatment of some of 
the more serious diseases, where delay in obtaining 
immediate medical assistance might be death. The 
diseases of infants, such as may be treated by a 
parent, are the following : Chafings, convulsions, 
costiveness, flatulence, gripings, hiccough, loose- 
ness of the bowels (diarrhoea), dysentery, nettle- 
rash, red-gum, stuffing of the nose, sickness and 
thrush. In all these complaints I will state what 
to do and what NOT to do. 

Chafing. — The want of water, inattention, and 
want of cleanliness are the usual causes of chafing. 

What to do. — The chafed parts ought to be well 
and thoroughly sponged with tepid rain water — 
allowing the water from a well-filled sponge to 
stream over them — and, afterward, they should 
be thoroughly, but tenderly dried with a soft 
towel, and then be dusted, either with finely-pow- 
dered starch, made of wheat flour, lycopodium, 
or with finely-powdered native carbonate of zinc, 
or they should be bathed with finely-powdered 
Fuller's-earth and tepid water. 

If, in a few days, the parts are not healed, dis- 
continue the above treatment, and use the following 
application : Beat up well together the whites of 



CONVULSIONS — TREATMENT. 325 

two eggs, then add, drop by drop, two tablespoon- 
fuls of brandy. When well mixed, put it into a bottle 
and cork it up. Before using it bathe the excori- 
ated parts gently with lukewarm rain water, and 
tenderly dry them with a soft napkin, then, by 
means of a camel's hair brush, having first shaken 
the bottle, apply the above liniment. But bear in 
mind, after all that can be said and done, there 
is nothing in these cases like water — there is nothing 
like keeping the parts clean, and the only way of 
thoroughly effecting this object is by putting the child 
every morning into his tub. 

What not to do. — Do not apply white lead, as it 
is a poison. Do not be afraid of using plenty of 
water, as cleanliness is one of the most important 
items of the treatment. 

Convulsions are caused by stuffing the child in 
the early months of existence, with food ; constant 
physicking by the mother ; teething and whoop- 
ing-cough, when attacking a very young baby. I 
never knew a case of convulsions to occur — say 
for the first four months — (except in very young 
infants laboring under whooping-cough), where 
children lived on the breast milk alone, and where 
they were not frequently quacked by their mother. 
For the treatment of the convulsions from teeth- 
ing, see page 309. 

What to do in a case of convulsions which has 
been caused by feeding an infant too much, or with 
artificial food. Give him, every ten minutes, a 
teaspoonful of wine of ipecac, until free vomiting 



326 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

is excited, then put him into a warm bath (see 
Warm Baths) ; and when he comes out of it ad- 
minister an enema of warm soft water. 

What not to do. — Do not, for at least a month 
after the fit, give him artificial food, but keep him 
entirely to the breast. 

In case of convulsions from whooping-cough, there 
is nothing better than dashing cold water on the 
face, and immersing him in a warm bath of 98 
degrees Fahr. If the spasms are caused by denti- 
tion, let the gums be freely and frequently lanced. 
Convulsions seldom occur in whooping-cough, 
unless the child is either very young or exceed- 
ingly delicate. Convulsions attending an attack 
of whooping-cough make it a serious complication, 
and require the assiduous and skilful attention of 
a judicious physician. 

What NOT to do in such a case. — Do not apply 
leeches ; the babe requires additional strength, 
not to be robbed of it ; and do not attempt to 
treat the case yourself. 

Constipation. — I strongly object to the frequent 
administration of cathartics, as the repetition of 
it increases the mischief to a tenfold degree. 

What to do. — If a babe, after the first few 
months, were held out, and at regular intervals 
were put upon the chair, costiveness would not so 
much prevail. It is wonderful how soon the bowels 
by this simple plan, may be brought into a regular 
state. Besides, it inducts an infant into clean 
habits. I know many careful mothers who have 



CONSTIPATION — TREATMENT. 327 

accustomed their children, after the first three 
months, to do without diapers altogether. It 
causes at first a little trouble, but that trouble is 
amply repaid by the good consequences that ensue. 
Diapers frequently chafe, irritate, and gall the 
tender skin of a baby. But they cannot be dis- 
pensed with, unless a mother has great judgment, 
sense, tact, and perseverance, to bring her little 
charge into the habit of relieving his bowels and 
bladder every time he is put upon his chair. 

Before giving an infant a particle of laxative 
medicine, try the effect of a little raw sugar and 
water, either half a teaspoonful of raw sugar dis- 
solved in a teaspoonful or two of water, or give 
him half a teaspoonful of raw sugar to eat. I 
mean by raw sugar, not the white, but the pure 
and unadulterated sugar, which can be procured 
from any reliable grocer. If you are wise, you 
will defer as long as you can giving an aperient. 
If you once begin, and continue it for a while, 
laxative medicine becomes a dire necessity, and 
then woe betide the poor unfortunate child. Or, 
give a third of a teaspoonful of honey, early in the 
morning, occasionally. 

If an infant's bowels are habitually costive, try 
the effects of a warm water enema. Let three or 
four, or even more tablespoonfuls (according to 
the age of the infant) of warm water be admin- 
istered. If the first enema does not have the de- 
sired effect, let a second, a third, or even more, be 
used, as no harm can possiblv arise from so simple 



328 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

a remedy. The effect of an enema is simply to 
wash out the bowels — to remove any offending 
motion pent up therein, and it does not at all in- 
terfere either with the appetite, with the digestion, 
or with increasing the obstinacy of the bowels, as 
a repetition of cathartics assuredly will do. An 
enema gives no pain, can never do any harm, and 
is administered in a few seconds. Truly, a warm 
water enema is a splendid remedy for opening a 
child's costive bowels. 

Drinking a dessertspoonful or a tablespoonful 
of cold water the moment a babe awakes in the 
morning, and every morning of his life, increasing 
the quantity as he grows older, is another admi- 
rable remedy for relaxing costive bowels. The 
warm water enema and the drinking of cold water 
in the morning, are both simple remedies, and can 
never do harm, which is more than can be said of 
the nauseous and powerful drugs that are some- 
times poured down poor unfortunate children's 
throats ! 

What to do. — There are two preparations of 
mercury I wish to warn you against administering 
of your own accord, viz. : Calomel, and a milder 
preparation called Grey powder (mercury with 
chalk). It is a common practice to give calomel, 
on account of the readiness with which it can be 
administered, it being small in quantity, and nearly 
tasteless. Grey powder is, with many mothers, a 
favorite in the nursery. It is a medicine of im- 
mense power — either for good or for evil; in 



CONSTIPATION— TREATMENT. 329 

certain cases it is very valuable ; but in others, and 
in the great majority, it is very detrimental. This 
practice of giving mercury, whether in the form 
either of calomel or grey powder, cannot be too 
strongly reprobated, as the frequent administration 
of either weakens the body, predisposes it to cold, 
and frequently excites scrofula. Calomel and grey 
powder ought never to be administered unless 
ordered by a doctor. Syrup of buckthorn and 
jalap are also frequently given, but they are grip- 
ing medicines, and ought to be banished from the 
nursery. 

Let me again urge the importance of your 
avoiding, as much as possible, all purgative medi- 
cines. They irritate beyond measure the tender 
bowels of an infant, and only make him more 
costive afterward ; they interfere with his diges- 
tion, and are liable to give him cold. A mother 
who is always quacking her child with physic, is 
laying up for her unfortunate offspring a debili- 
tated constitution — a miserable existence. 

Great care should be paid to the rules of health, 
such as attention to diet, exercise in the open air, 
thorough bathing of the whole body ; the regular 
habit of causing him, at stated periods, to be held 
out that he may solicit a stool. If these rules were 
observed, costiveness would not so frequently pre- 
vail, and one of the miseries of the nursery would 
be done away with. 

Some mothers are frequently dosing their poor 
unfortunate babes either with magnesia to cool 



330 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

them, or with castor oil to heal their bowels. Oh, 
the folly of such practices! The frequent repeti- 
tion of magnesia, instead of cooling- an infant, makes 
him feverish and irritable. The constant adminis- 
tration of castor oil, instead of healing the bowels, 
wounds them beyond measure. No ! it would be 
a blessed thing if a babe could be brought up with- 
out giving him a particle of any cathartic ; his 
bowels would then act naturally and well ; but a 
mother must be particular in attending to Nature's 
medicines — to fresh air, to exercise, to diet, to 
thorough ablution, etc. Until that time comes, 
poor unfortunate babies must be occasionally 
dosed with an aperient. 

Flatulence most frequently occurs in those 
infants who live on artificial food, especially if they 
are over-fed. I therefore beg to refer you to the 
precautions I have given, when speaking of the 
importance of keeping a child for the first five or 
six months entirely to the breast, and, if that is not 
practicable, of the times of feeding, and of the best 
kinds of artificial food, and of those which are least 
likely to cause wind. 

What to do. — Notwithstanding these precautions, 
if the babe should still suffer, "one of the best and 
safest remedies for flatulence is Sal-volatile — a tea- 
spoonful of a solution of one dram to three ounces 
of water." Or, a little dill or aniseed may be added 
to the food — half a teaspoonful of dill water. Or, 
take twelve drops of oil of dill, and two lumps of 
sugar; rub them well in a mortar together ; then 



FLATULENCE — TREATMENT. 33 1 

add, drop by drop, three tablespoonfuls of spring- 
water ; let it be preserved in a bottle for use. A 
teaspoonful of this, first shaking the vial, may be 
added to each quantity of food. Or, three tea- 
spoonfuls of bruised caraway seeds may be boiled 
for ten minutes in a teacupful of water, and then 
strained. One or two teaspoonfuls of the caraway 
tea may be added to each quantity of his food, or 
a dose of rhubarb and magnesia may occasionally 
be given. 

Opodeldoc, or warm olive oil, well rubbed, for 
a quarter of an hour at a time, by means of the 
warm hand, over the bowels, will frequently give 
relief. Turning the child over on his bowels, so 
that they may press on the nurse's lap, will often 
afford great comfort. A warm bath generally 
gives immediate ease in flatulence ; it acts as a 
fomentation to the bowels. But after all, a little 
mild aperient medicine, when the babe is suffering 
severely, is often the best remedy for wind. 

Remember, that whenever it is possible, pre- 
vention is better than cure. 

What NOT to do, — Cordials are sometimes given 
in flatulence ; but as most of these quack medicines 
contain, in one form or another, either opium or 
poppy, and both are dangerous remedies for chil- 
dren, they must be banished from the nursery. 

Syrup of poppies is another remedy which is 
often given by a nurse to afford relief for flatulence ; 
but let me urge upon you the importance of ban- 
ishing it from the nursery. It has caused the un- 



332 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

timely end of thousands of children. The medical 
journals and the newspapers teem with cases of 
deaths from mothers incautiously giving syrup of 
poppies to ease pain and to procure sleep. 

What are the symptoms, the causes and the treat- 
ment of gripings of an infant? — The symptoms: The 
child draws up his legs ; screams violently ; if put 
to the nipple to comfort him, he turns away from 
it and cries bitterly ; he strains, as though he were 
having a stool ; if he has a motion, it will be slimy, 
curdled, and perhaps green. If, in addition to the 
above symptoms, he passes a large quantity of 
watery fluid from his bowels, the case becomes .one 
of watery gripes, and requires the immediate atten- 
tion of a doctor. 

The causes of gripings or gripes may proceed 
either from the infant or from the mother. If 
from the child, it is generally owing either to im- 
proper food or to over-feeding ; if from the 
mother it may be traced to her having taken either 
greens, pork, tart beer, sour porter, pickles, or 
drastic purgatives. 

What to do. — The treatment, of course, must de- 
pend upon the cause. If it arises from over- 
feeding, I would advise giving a small quantity of 
castor oil, warm fomentations to be applied to the 
bowels, and the mother, or the nurse, to be more 
careful for the future. If it proceeds from im- 
proper food, a dose or two of magnesia and rhubarb 
in a little dill water, made palatable with simple 
syrup. 



CHOLERA INFANTUM. 333 

Powdered Turkey Rhubarb, half a scruple ; 

Carbonate of Magnesia, one scruple ; 

Simple Syrup, three drams ; 

Dill Water, eight drams. 
Make a mixture., — One or two teaspoonfuls (according to the age 
of the child) to be taken every four hours, until relief is obtained — 
first shaking the bottle. 

If it arises from a mother's imprudence in eat- 
ing trash, or taking violent medicine, a warm bath 
usually affords instant relief. 

Another excellent remedy is the hot compress. 
Soak a piece of new flannel, folded into two or 
three thicknesses, in warm water; wring it toler- 
ably dry, and apply as hot as the child can com- 
fortably bear it to the bowels, then wrap him in a 
warm, dry blanket, and keep him, for at least 
half an hour, enveloped in it. Under the above 
treatment he will generally soon fall into a sweet 
sleep, and awake quite refreshed. 

What NOT to do. — Do not give opiates, astring- 
ents, chalk, or any quack medicine Whatever. 

If a child suffers from a mother's folly in her 
eating improper food, it will be cruel in the ex- 
treme for him a second time to be tormented from 
the same cause. 

Hiccough ispf such a trifling nature as hardly 
to require interference. It may generally be 
traced to over-feeding. Should it be severe, four 
or five grains of calcined magnesia, with a little 
syrup and aniseed water, and attention to feeding, 
are all that will be necessary. 

Infantile diarrhcea, or cholera infantum, is one of 



334 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

the most frequent and serious of infantile diseases, 
and carries off more children than any other com- 
plaint whatever ; a knowledge of the symptoms, 
therefore, is quite necessary to a mother, in order 
that she may, at the proper time, call in efficient 
medical aid. 

Before describing the symptoms, it may be 
well to state that a child should have from three 
to six motions in twenty-four hours ; they ought 
to have a faint and peculiar, but not a strong and 
disagreeable odor. If there is a strong and dis- 
agreeable smell, the child is not well, and the case 
should be investigated, more especially if there 
were either curds or lumps in the motions ; these 
latter symptoms denote that the food has not been 
properly digested. 

If the infant, instead of having from three to 
six motions, should have more than double the 
latter number, if they are more watery, if they be- 
come slimy and green, or green in part and 
curdled, if they have an unpleasant smell, if he is 
sick, cross, restless, and fidgety, if every time he 
has a motion he. is griped and in pain, I should 
say that he is troubled with diarrhoea, and it will 
be necessary to give a little medicine, which I will 
indicate in a subsequent paragraph. 

Should there be both blood and slime mixed 
with the stool, the case becomes more serious ; still, 
with proper care, relief can generally be quickly 
obtained. If the evacuations — instead of being 
stool — are merely blood and slime, and the child 



DIARRHOEA — TREATMENT. 335 

strains frequently and violently, endeavoring thus 
to relieve himself, crying at each effort, the case 
assumes the character of dysentery.* 

If there is a mixture of blood, slime and stool 
from the bowels, the case would be called dysen- 
teric-diarrhoea. The latter case requires great 
skill and judgment on the part of a doctor, and 
great attention and implicit obedience from the 
mother and the nurse. I merely mention these 
diseases in order to warn you of their importance, 
and of the necessity of strictly attending to a 
doctor's orders. 

Diarrhoea. — The causes of Diarrhoea are im- 
proper food, over-feeding, teething, cold, the 
mother's milk from various causes disagreeing, 
namely, from her being out of health, eating un- 
suitable food, taking improper and drastic purga- 
tives, or nursing her child when she is pregnant. 
Of course, if any of these causes are in operation, 
they ought to be remedied, or medicine to the 
babe will be of little avail. 

What to do. — If the case is slight, and has lasted 
two or three days, do not interfere by giving med- 
icine at first ; if the cause is some acidity or vitiated 
stool that should be eliminated, the best treatment 
is to assist nature by giving either a dose of castor 
oil, or a moderate one of rhubarb and magnesia,f 
and thus to work off the enemy. 

*See Symptoms and Treatment of Dysentery. 

fFor a rhubarb and magnesia mixture prescription, see page 333. 



336 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

If the relaxation continues for three or four days 
— then the following mixture should be given : 

Take of — Aromatic Powder of Chalk and Opium, ten grains; 
Oil of Dill, five d-jps; 
Simple Syrup, three drams; 
Water, nine drams. 
Half a teaspoonful to be given to an infant of six months and 
under, and one teaspoonful to a child above that age, every four hours 
— first shaking the bottle. 

If the babe is at the breast, he ought to be kept 
entirely to it for a few days. The mother should 
be most particular in her own diet. 

What not to do. — The mother must neither take 
greens, cabbage, raw fruit, pastry nor beer. The 
child, if at the breast, ought not, as long as the 
diarrhoea continues, to have any artificial food. 
He must neither be dosed with Grey powder, nor 
with Godfrey's Cordial or any other quack med- 
icines. 

Dysentery frequently arises from a neglected 
diarrhoea. It is more dangerous than diarrhoea, 
as it is of an inflammatory character ; and as it fre- 
quently attacks a delicate child, requires skillful 
handling. 

Symptoms. — The infant, in all probability, has 
had an attack of diarrhoea — bowel complaint as it 
is called — for several days, having a dozen or two 
of motions, many of them slimy and frothy, like 
frog spawn, during the twenty-four hours. Sud- 
denly the character of the motion changes, — from 
being principally stool, it becomes almost entirely 
blood and mucus ; he is dreadfully griped, which 



DYSENTERY — TREATMENT. 33/ 

causes him to strain violently, as though his inside 
would come away every time he has a motion, — 
screaming and twisting- about, evidently being in 
the greatest pain, drawing his legs up to his belly 
and writhing in agony, Sickness and vomiting 
are always present, which still more robs him of 
his little remaining strength, and prevents the re- 
pair of his system. His face is the very picture 
of distress. If he has been a plump, healthy little 
fellow, you will see his face, in a few days, become 
old-looking, careworn, haggard, and pinched. 
Day and night the enemy tracks him ; no sleep, or 
if he sleeps, he is, every few minutes, aroused. It 
is heartrending to have to attend to a bad case of 
dysentery in a child, — the writhing, the screaming, 
the frequent vomiting, the pitiful looks, the rapid 
wasting and exhaustion, make it more distressing 
to witness than almost any other disease a doctor 
attends. 

What to do. — If the child is at the breast, keep 
him to it, and let him have nothing else, for dysen- 
tery is frequently caused by improper feeding. If 
your milk is not good, or is scanty, instantly pro- 
cure a healthy wet nurse. Lose not a moment, for 
in dysentery moments are precious. If you have 
no milk, and no wet nurse can be procured, feed 
him entirely on artificial human milk or cow's 
milk — the milk of one healthy cow. Let the milk 
be unboiled, and fresh from the cow. Give it 
in small quantities at a time, and frequently, so 
that it may be retained on the stomach. If a 



338 INFANTS- -AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

tablespoonful of the milk makes him sick, give 
him a dessertspoonful ; if a dessertspoonful causes 
sickness, let him only have a teaspoonful at a time, 
and let it be repeated every quarter of an hour. 
But remember, in such a case the breast milk is 
incomparably superior to any other milk, or to any 
other food whatever. 

If he is a year old, and weaned, then feed him, 
as above recommended, on the cow's milk. If 
there is extreme exhaustion and debility, let fifteen 
drops of brandy be added to each tablespoonful 
of new milk, and let it be given every half hour. 

A warm bath, at the commencement of the dis- 
ease, is very efficacious; but it must be given at 
the commencement. If he has had dysentery for a 
day or two, he will be too weak to have a warm 
bath ; then, instead of the bath — wrap him in a 
blanket, which has been previously wrung out of 
hot water; over which envelope him in a dry 
blanket. Keep him in this hot, damp blanket for 
half an hour ; then take him out, put on his night- 
gown and place him in bed. If it is winter the bed 
should be previously warmed. The above blanket 
treatment will frequently give great relief, and 
sometimes cause him to fall into a sweet sleep. A 
flannel bag filled with hot powdered table salt, 
made hot in the oven, applied to the bowels, will 
afford much comfort. 

Now with regard to medicine. I approach this 
part of the treatment with some degree of reluc- 
tance — for dysentery is a case requiring opium — 



DYSENTERY — TREATMENT. 339 

and opium I never like a mother of her own accord 
to administer. But if a doctor cannot be procured 
in time, the mother must then prescribe, or the 
child will die ! What then is to be done? In severe 
dysentery, especially where there is sickness, there 
is no remedy equal to pure calomel, in a full dose 
without opium. Therefore, at the very onset of the 
disease, let from three to five grains (according to 
the age of the patient), of calomel, mixed with an 
equal quantity of powdered white sugar, be put 
dry on the tongue. In three hours after let the 
following mixture be administered : 

Take of — Compound Powder of Ipecac, five grains; 
Wine of Ipecac, one dram; 
Simple Syrup, three drams; 
Cinnamon Water, nine drams. 
To make a mixture. — A teaspoonful to be given every three or 
four hours, first well shaking the bottle. 

Supposing he cannot retain the mixture — the 
stomach rejecting it as soon as swallowed — what 
then? Give the opium, mixed with small doses of 
mercury with chalk and sugar, in the form of 
powder, and put one of the powders dry on the 
tongue, every three hours: 

Take of — Powdered Opium, half a grain; 

Mercury with Chalk, nine grains; 
Sugar of Milk, twenty-four grains; 
Mix well in a mortar, and divide into twelve powders. 

If the dysentery has for several days persisted, 
and during that time nothing but mucus and blood 
has come from the bowels, then a combination of 



340 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

castor oil and opium ought, instead of the medi- 
cine recommended above, to be given: 

Take of — Mucilage of Gum Acacia, three drams ; 
Simple Syrup, three drams; 
Tincture of Opium, ten drops (not minims); 
Castor Oil, two drams 
Cinnamon Water, four drams; 
Make a mixture. — A teaspoonful to be taken every four hours, 
first well shaking the bottle. 

What NOT to do. — Do not give carthartics, unless 
as before advised, the castor oil guarded with the 
opium ; do not stuff him with artificial food ; do 
not fail to send for a judicious and an experienced 
physician ; for remember, that it requires a skilful 
doctor to treat a case of dysentery, more especially 
in a child. 

Hives or nettle rash consists of several irregular, 
raised wheals, red at the base, and white on the 
summit, on different parts of the body ; but it sel- 
dom attacks the face. It is not contagious, and it 
may occur at all ages and many times. It comes 
and goes, remaining only a short time in a place. 
It puts on very much the appearance of the child 
having been stung by nettles — hence its name. It 
produces great heat, itching, and irritation, some- 
times to such a degree as to make him feverish, 
sick, and fretful. He is generally worse when he 
is warm in bed, or when the surface of his body is 
suddenly exposed to the air. Rubbing the skin, 
too, always aggravates the itching and the ting- 
ling, and brings out a fresh crop. The cause may 
commonly be traced to improper feeding; al- 
though, occasionally, it proceeds from teething. 



NETTLE RASH — TREATMENT. 34 1 

What to do. — It is a complaint of no danger, and 
readily gives way to a mild aperient, and to atten- 
tion to diet. There is nothing better to relieve 
the irritation of the skin than a warm bath, or fre- 
quently dusting the rash with toasted rye flour. 

What not to do. — Do not apply cold applica- 
tions to his skin, and do not wash (while the rash 
is out) in quite cold water. Do not allow him to 
be in a draught, but let him be in a well ventilated 
room. If he is old enough to eat meat, keep it 
from him for a few days, and let him live on milk 
and farinaceous diet. Avoid strong purgatives, 
and calomel, and grey powder. 

Red-gum, tooth-rash, red-gown, is usually owing 
to irritation from teething ; not always from the 
cutting, but from the evolution of the teeth. It is 
sometimes owing to unhealthy stools irritating the 
bowels, and showing itself, by sympathy, on the 
skin. Red-gum consists of several small pimples, 
about the size of pins' heads, and may be known 
from measles — the only disease for which it is at 
all likely to be mistaken — by its being unattended 
by symptoms of cold, such as sneezing, running, 
and redness of the eyes, etc.; and by the patches 
not assuming a crescentic — half-moon shape ; red- 
gum may readily be known by the child's health 
being unaffected ; unless, indeed, there is a great 
crop of pimples ; then there will be slight fever- 
ishness. 

What to do. — Little need be done. If there is 
a good deal of irritation, a mild aperient should be 



342 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

given. The child ought to be kept moderately, 
but not very warm. 

What NOT to do. — Draughts of air, or cold 
should be carefully avoided ; as, by sending the 
eruption suddenly in, either convulsions or dis- 
ordered bowels might be produced. Do not dose 
him with grey powder. 

Stuffiness of the nose in a new-born babe may be 
prevented by rubbing a little tallow on the bridge 
of the nose. This is the old-fashioned remedy, and 
answers the purpose. It ought to be applied every 
evening just before putting him to bed. If the 
stuffing is severe, dip a sponge in hot water, as 
hot as he can comfortably bear ; ascertain that it is 
not too hot, by previously applying it to your own 
face and then put it for a few minutes to the 
bridge of his nose. As soon as the hard mucus is 
within reach, it should be carefully removed. 

Many thriving babies are, after taking the breast, 
frequently sick ; still we cannot look upon sickness 
otherwise than as an index of either a disordered 
or of an overloaded stomach. If the child is sick, 
and yet thriving, it is a proof that he overloads his 
stomach. The mother must not allow him to 
nurse so much at a time. She should, until he 
retains all he takes, lessen the quantity of milk. If 
he is sick and does not thrive, the mother should 
notice if the milk he throws up has a sour smell ; 
if it has, she must look to her own health ; she 
ought to ascertain if her own stomach is out of 
order; for if such is the case, it is impossible for 



THE MOTHER S HEALTH IMPORTANT. 343 

her to make good milk. She should observe 
whether in the morning her tongue is furred and 
dry ; whether she has a disagreeable taste in her 
mouth, or pains in her stomach, or heartburn, or 
flatulence. If she has all, or any of these symp- 
toms, they explain why he is sick and does not 
thrive. 

But if the mother is in the enjoyment of good 
health, she must then look to the babe himself, and 
ascertain if he is cutting his teeth, if the gums re- 
quire lancing, if the secretions from the bowels are 
proper both in quantity and in quality, and, if he 
has had artificial food — whether it agrees with 
him. 

What to do. — In the first place, if the gums are 
red, hot and swollen, let them be lanced ; in the 
second, if the secretions from the bowels are either 
unhealthy or scanty, then give a dose of aperient 
medicine, such as castor oil, or the following: 
Take two or three grains of powdered Turkish 
rhubarb, three grains of pure carbonate of mag- 
nesia and one grain of aromatic powder — mix. 
The powder to be taken at bedtime, mixed in a 
teaspoonful of sugar and water, and it should, 
if necessary, be repeated the following night. In 
the third place, if the food he is taking does not 
agree with him, change it ; or, if possible, keep 
him entirely to the breast. 

What not to do. — Do not let him overload his 
stomach either with breast milk, or with artificial 
food. Let the mother avoid greens, cabbage, and 
all green vegetables. 



344 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

The thrush is a frequent disease in infancy, and 
is often brought on either by stuffing or by giving 
improper food. A child brought up entirely, for 
the first three or four months, on the breast, seldom 
suffers from this complaint. The thrush consists 
of several irregular, roundish, white specks on the 
lips, the tongue, the inside, and the angles of the 
mouth, giving the parts affected the appearance of 
curds and whey having been smeared upon them. 
The mouth is hot and painful, and he is afraid to 
nurse ; the moment the nipple is put in his mouth 
he begins to cry. The thrush sometimes, though 
rarely, runs through the whole of the alimentary 
canal. It should be borne in mind that nearly every 
child, who is nursing, has his or her tongue white 
or frosted, as it is sometimes called. The thrush 
may be mild or very severe. 

What to do. — As the thrush is generally owing 
to improper and to artificial feeding, if the child is 
at the breast, keep him, for a time, entirely to it. 
Do not let him be always nursing, as that will not 
only fret his mouth, but will irritate and make sore 
the mother's nipple. 

If he is not at the breast, but has been weaned, 
then keep him for a few days entirely to a milk 
diet — to the milk of ONE cow — either boiled, if it 
is hot weather, to keep it sweet, or unboiled in 
cool weather — fresh as it comes from the cow, 
mixed with lime water in the proportion of two 
parts of milk to one of lime water. 

The best medicine is the old-fashioned one of 



THE THRUSH — TREATMENT. 345 

borax, a combination of powdered lump sugar and 
borax being a good one for the purpose; the 
powdered loaf sugar increases the efficacy and 
the cleansing properties of the borax ; it tends, 
also, to make it more palatable : 

Take of — Borax, half a dram; 

Loaf Sugar, two scruples; 
To be well mixed together, and made into twelve powders. One of 
the powders to be put dry on the tongue every four hours. 

The best local remedy is honey and borax, which 
ought to be smeared frequently, by means of the 
finger, on the parts affected. Thorough ventila- 
tion of the apartments must be observed ; and 
great cleanliness of the vessels containing the milk 
should be insisted upon. In a bad case of thrush, 
change of air to the country is most desirable ; the 
effect is sometimes truly magical. If the thrush is 
brought on either by too much or by improper 
food, the mother must lessen the quantity and be 
more careful in her selection. 

What NOT to do. — Do not mind the trouble of 
ascertaining that the cooking vessels connected 
with the baby's food are perfectly clean and sweet. 
Do not leave the purity and the goodness of the 
cow's milk to be judged either by the milkman or 
by the nurse, but take and prove it yourself. Do 
not keep the milk in a warm place, but in the dairy 
or the cellar; and if it is summer time, let the 
jug holding the milk be put in a crock containing 
lumps of ice. Do not use milk that has been 
drawn longer than twelve hours, but, if practi- 



346 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

cable, have it direct from the cow, and use imme- 
diately — let it be really and truly fresh and genuine 
milk. 

In a severe case of thrush, where the complaint 
has been brought on by artificial feeding, it is really 
surprising how rapidly a wet nurse will effect a 
cure, when all other means have been tried and 
have failed. The effect has been truly magical. 
In a severe case of thrush, pure air and thorough 
ventilation are essential to recovery. 

A babe can only express his wants and his ne- 
cessities by a cry ; he can only tell his aches and 
his pains by a cry ; it is the only language of baby- 
hood ; it is the most ancient of all languages ; it is 
the language known by our earliest progenitors ; 
it is, if listened to aright, a very expressive lan- 
guage, although it is but the language of a cry. 

There is a language in the cry of an infant, 
which to a mother is the most interesting of all 
languages, and which a thoughtful physician can 
well interpret. The cry of a child, to an experi- 
enced doctor, is, each and all, a distinct sound, 
and is as expressive as the notes of the gamut. 
The cry of passion, for instance, is a furious cry ; 
the cry of sleepiness is a drowsy cry ; the cry of 
grief is a sobbing cry ; the cry of an infant when 
roused from sleep is a shrill cry ; the cry of hun- 
ger is very characteristic— it is unaccompanied 
with tears, and is a wailing cry ; the cry of teeth- 
ing is a fretful cry ; the cry of pain tells to a 
practiced ear the part of pain ; the cry of earache 



THE LANGUAGE OF A CRY. 347 

is short, sharp, piercing, and decisive, the head be- 
ing moved about from side to side, and the little 
hand being often put up to the affected side of the 
head ; the cry of bowel-ache is also expressive — it 
is not so piercing as from earache, and is an inter- 
rupted, straining cry, accompanied with a draw- 
ing-up of the legs to the belly ; the cry of bron- 
chitis is a gruff and phlegmatic cry ; the cry of in- 
flammation of the lungs is more a moan than a 
cry ; the cry of croup is hoarse, and rough, and 
ringing, and is so characteristic that it may truly 
be called the croupy cry ; the cry of inflammation 
of the membranes of the brain is a piercing shriek 
— a danger signal — most painful to hear ; the cry 
of a child recovering from a severe illness is a 
cross, wayward, and tearful cry; he may truly be 
said to be in a quarrelsome mood ; he bursts out, 
without rhyme or reason, into a passionate flood 
of tears — into a tempest of tears. Tears are al- 
ways, in a severe illness, to be looked upon as a 
good omen, as a sign of amendment. Tears, when 
a child is dangerously ill, are very rarely, if ever, 
seen; a cry, at night, for light — a frequent cause of 
a babe's crying — is a restless cry. 

Broth and beef tea will seldom agree with an 
infant at the breast, yet, when used as an enema, 
and in small quantities, so that they may be re- 
tained, I have frequently found them to be of 
great benefit ; they have, in some instances, ap- 
peared to have snatched delicate children from the 
brink of the grave. 



348 INFANTS — AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

If a baby's ankles are weak, let them every 
morning be bathed, after the completion of his 
morning's ablution, for five minutes each time, 
with bay salt and water, a small handful of bay 
salt dissolved in a quart of rain water, then let 
them be dried ; after drying the ankles rub well 
with the following liniment: 

Take of — Oil of Rosemary, three drams ; 

Liniment of Camphor, thirteen drams ; 
To make a liniment. 

Do not let him be put on his feet early ; but al- 
low him to crawl and sprawl and kick about the 
floor, until his body and ankles become strong. 

Do not, on any account, without having compe- 
tent advice on the subject, use iron instruments, 
or mechanical supports of any kind ; the ankles are 
generally, by such artificial supports, made worse, 
in consequence of the pressure causing a further 
dwindling away and enfeebling of the ligaments 
of the ankles, already wasted and weakened. 

Let him wear shoes with straps over the insteps 
to keep them on, and not boots ; boots will only 
increase the weakness of the ankles. 

Before concluding this chapter let me again 
urge upon you the importance — the paramount 
importance — if you wish your babe to be strong 
and hearty, of giving him as little physic as pos- 
sible. The best physic for him is Nature's 
physic — fresh air and exercise and simplicity of 
living. A mother, who is herself always drug- 
ging her child, can only do good to two persons 
— the doctor and the druggist. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS ON INFANCY. 349 

If an infant, from birth, is properly managed, — 
if he has an abundance of fresh air for his lungs, 
and plenty of exercise for his muscles, — if he has 
a good bathing and sousing of water for his skin, 
— if during the early months of his life, he has 
nothing but the mother's milk for his stomach, — 
he will require very little medicine — the less the 
better. He does not want his stomach to be made 
into a doctor's shop. The grand thing is not 
to take every opportunity of administering physic, 
but of using every means of withholding it ; and 
if physic is necessary, not to doctor him yourself, 
unless in extreme and urgent cases, but to employ 
an experienced physician. 

A babe who is always being physicked, is sure to 
be puny, delicate and unhealthy, and is ready at 
any moment to drop into an untimely grave. 

I will maintain that a healthy child never re- 
quires drugging, and that constipation is brought 
on by bad management. Laxative medicines, to a 
healthy child, are so much poison. Let me impress 
the above remarks on every mother s mind; for it is a 
subject of vital importance. Never give a pur- 
gative to a healthy child; for if properly managed, 
he will never require one. If you once begin to 
give aperients, you will find difficulty in discon- 
tinuing them. Finally, I will only say with Punch, 
— "Don't." 

Concluding remarks on infancy. — In concluding 
this part of my subject, I beg to remark, there are 
four things essentially necessary to a babe's well- 



350 INFANTS— AND HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 

doing, namely, plenty of water for his skin ; plenty 
of fresh genuine milk mixed with water for his 
stomach (giving him ONLY his mother's milk during 
the first six, eight, or nine months of his existences- 
plenty of pure air for his lungs, and plenty of 
sleep for his brain ; these are the four grand essen- 
tials for an infant ; without an abundance of one 
and all of them, perfect health is utterly impossible. 
Perfect health ! the greatest earthly blessing, and 
more to be coveted than aught else beside. There 
is not a more charming sight in the universe than 
the beaming face of a perfectly healthy babe, — 

"His are the joys of nature, his the smile, 
The cherub smile, of innocence and health." 




CHAPTER XIII. 



CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 



The Child is Father of the Man. — Wordsworth. 

Ablution. — A child ought not to be bathed 
while he is in a state of perspiration, nor while he 
is perspiring violently, or the perspiration might be 
checked suddenly, and ill consequences would 
ensue ; nor ought he to be given a bath when he is cold, 
or his blood would be chilled, and would be sent 
from the skin to some internal vital part, and thus 
would be likely to light up inflammation — prob- 
ably of the lungs. His skin, when he is placed in 
his bath, ought to be moderately and comfortably 
warm, neither too hot nor too cold. When a 
child is a year old, if it is winter, a little warm 
water ought to be added, so as to raise the temper- 
ature to that of new milk. As the summer ad- 
vances, less and less warm water is required, so 
that at length none is needed. 

If a child is delicate, either a handful of table 
salt, or a half handful of bay salt, should be dis- 
solved in a quart jug of cold water ; then, just be- 
fore taking the child out of his morning bath, let 
the above be poured over and down the back and 
loins of the child — holding the jug while pouring 

(351) 



352 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. ' 

its contents on the back, a foot distance from the 
child, in order that it may act as a kind of douche 
bath. The child, after he has been dried with the 
towel, ought to be well rubbed with the hand, as 
friction encourages the cutaneous circulation, and 
causes the skin to perform its functions properly, 
thus preventing the perspiration (which is one of 
the impurities of the body) from being sent in- 
wardly either to the lungs or to other parts. The 
back, the chest, the bowels, and the limbs are the 
parts that ought to be well rubbed. One bath 
a day is quite sufficient, in the morning in pref- 
erence to the evening, unless he is poorly, then 
evening instead of morning ; as, immediately after 
he has been washed and dried, he can be put to 
bed. 

Clothing. — Children, boys and girls, especially 
if they are delicate, ought always to wear high 
dresses up to their neck. The exposure of the 
upper part of the chest (if the child is sickly) is 
dangerous. It is in the upper part of the lungs, in 
the region of the collar bones, that consumption 
first shows itself. The clothing of the child, 
especially about the chest, should be large and 
full in every part, and free from tight strings, so 
that the circulation of the blood may not be im- 
peded, and that there may be plenty of room for 
the full development of the rapidly-growing body. 

His frock, or tunic, ought to be of woolen 
material — warm, light and porous, in order that the 
perspiration may rapidly evaporate. The practice 



CLOTHING. 353 

of some mothers in allowing their children to 
wear tight bands around their waists, and tight 
clothes, is truly reprehensible. Tight bands or 
tight belts around the waist of a child, are very in- 
jurious to health ; they compress the chest, and 
thus interfere with the rising and falling of the 
ribs — so essential to the breathing. Tight hats 
ought never to be worn; by interfering with the 
circulation they cause headaches. Nature delights 
in freedom, and resents interference ! 

The chest, bowels and feet should be kept 
comfortably warm. We must guard against an 
opposite extreme, and not keep them too hot. 
The head alone should be kept cool* on which ac- 
count I do not approve either of night or of day 
caps. The best covering of the head is a loose fitting 
straw hat, which will allow the perspiration to es- 
cape. It should have a broad rim, to screen the 
eyes. A knitted or crocheted woolen hat, or a 
toboggan hood, makes a nice and comfortable win- 
ter covering for a child's head. 

It is an abominable practice to cover a child's 
head either with beaver, felt, or any thick imper- 
vious material. It is a well ascertained fact that 
both beaver and silk hats cause men to suffer from 
headache, and to lose their hair — the reason 
being that the perspiration cannot possibly escape 
through them. Neither a child nor any one else 
should be permitted to be in the glare of the sun 
without his hat. When a child walks oris carried 
out in wintry weather, be sure and see that both 

*3 



354 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

his hands and legs are well protected from the 
cold. There is nothing for this purpose like 
woolen gloves, and woolen stockings coming up 
over the knees. 

1 should not advise a child to be lightly clad, 
in order that he may be hardened thereby. Such 
a plan, instead of hardening, would be likely to 
produce a contrary effect. It is an ascertained 
fact that more children of the poor, who are thus 
lightly clad, die, than of those who are properly 
defended from the cold. Again, what holds good 
with a young plant is equally applicable to a 
young child ; and we all know that it is ridiculous 
to think of unnecessarily exposing a tender plant 
to harden it. If it were thus exposed, it would 
wither and die. 

If a child is delicate, if he has a cold body, a 
languid circulation, or predisposed to inflamma- 
tion of the lungs, he should wear flannel instead 
of linen shirts. Flannel tends to keep the body at 
an equal temperature, thus obviating the effects of 
the sudden changes of the weather, and promotes 
by gentle friction the cutaneous circulation, thus 
warming the cold body, giving an impetus to the 
languid circulation, and preventing an undue 
quantity of blood from being sent to the lungs, 
either to light up or to feed inflammation. Fine 
flannel ought to be worn, which should be changed 
as frequently as the usual shirts. 

If a child has had an attack either of bronchitis 
or of inflammation of the lungs, or if he has just 



CLOTHING. 355 

recovered from scarlet fever, by all means, if he 
has not previously worn flannel, instantly let him 
begin to do so, and let him wear a flannel waist- 
coat next the skin. This is important advice, and 
ought not to be disregarded. 

During the winter he ought to wear woolen 
stockings that will reach above the knees, and thick 
drawers that will reach a few inches below the 
knees, as it is of the utmost importance to keep 
the lower extremities comfortably warm. It is 
really painful to see how many mothers expose the 
bare legs of their little ones to the frosty air, even 
in the depths of winter. Be sure and see that the 
boots and shoes of your child are sound and 
whole; for if they are not, they will let in the 
damp, and if the damp, disease and perhaps death. 
" If the poor would take better care of their chil- 
dren's feet, half the infantile mortality would dis- 
appear. It costs only a few cents to put a piece 
of thick felt or cork into the bottom of a boot or 
shoe, and the difference is often between that and 
a doctor's bill, with, perhaps, the undertaker's 
besides." Garters ought not to be worn, as they 
impede the circulation, waste the muscles, and in- 
terfere with walking. Stocking supporters are 
far better. 

Let me urge the importance of not allowing 
your child to wear tight shoes ; they cripple the 
feet, causing the joints of the toes, which ought 
to have free play, and which should assist in walk- 
ing, to be, in a manner, useless ; they produce corns 



35^ CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

and bunions, and interfere with the proper circu- 
lation of the foot. A shoe ought to be made ac- 
cording to the shape of the foot — rights and lefts 
are therefore desirable. The toe part of the shoe 
must be made broad, so as to allow plenty of 
room for the toes to expand, and that one toe can 
not overlap another. Be sure that there is no 
pinching and no pressure. In the article of shoes 
you ought to be particular and liberal ; pay atten- 
tion to having nicely fitting ones, and let them be 
made of soft leather, and throw them aside the 
moment they are too small. It is poor economy, 
indeed, because a pair of shoes is not worn out, to 
run the risk of incurring the above evil con- 
sequences. 

Shoes are far preferable to boots; boots weaken 
instead of strengthen the ankle. The ankle and 
instep require free play, and ought not to be ham- 
pered by boots. Boots, by undue pressure, de- 
cidedly waste away the ligaments of the ankle. 
Boots act on the ankles in a similar way that cor-» 
sets do on the waist — they do mischief by pressure. 
Boots waste away the ligaments of the ankle ; 
stays waste away the muscles of the back and 
chest ; and thus, in both cases, do irreparable mis- 
chief. A mother ought not to leave off her chil- 
dren's winter clothing until the spring is far 
advanced ; it is better to be on the safe side, and 
to allow the winter clothes to be worn until the 
end of May 

Diet. — There is no objection when a child is 



DIET. 35; 

twelve months old, to his occasionally having a 
mealy, mashed potato and gravy, or a few crumbs 
of bread and gravy for dinner. Rice pudding or 
batter pudding may be given for a change, but re- 
member, the food recommended in a former para- 
graph is what must be principally given, until he 
is eighteen months old. He ought not to have 
meat until he has several teeth to chew it with. If 
he has most of his teeth — which he very likely 
will have at this age — there is no objection to his 
taking a small slice of mutton, or roast *beef, 
which should be well cut into very small pieces, 
and mixed with a mealy mashed potato, and a few 
crumbs of bread and gravy ; either every day, if he 
is delicate, or every other day, if he is a gross or 
fast feeding child. 

I think so highly of rice, suet, and batter pud- 
dings, and of other farinaceous puddings, that I 
should advise you to let him have one or the other, 
even on those days when he has meat — giving it 
to him after his meat. But remember, if he has 
meat and pudding, the meat ought to be given 
sparingly. A well boiled suet pudding, with 
plenty of suet in it, is one of the best puddings he 
can have ; it is, in point of fact, meat and farina- 
ceous food combined. The objection to fruit pies 
and puddings is, that the pastry is often too rich 
for the delicate stomach of a child ; there is no ob- 
jection to the fruit — cooked fruit being most 
wholesome ; if fruit puddings and pies are eaten, 
the pastry part ought to be quite plain. Jam — 



358 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

such as strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry — is 
most wholesome for a child, and ought occasionally 
to be given, in place of sugar, with rice, batter, or 
other puddings. Marmalade, too, is very whole- 
some. 

Puddings ought to be given after and not be- 
fore meat and vegetables ; if you give him pudding 
before his meat, he might refuse to eat meat alto- 
gether. By adopting the plan of giving puddings 
every day, your child will require less animal food ; 
much meat is injurious to a young child. But do 
not run in an opposite extreme ; a little meat ought 
to be given every day, providing he has cut the whole 
of his first set of teeth ; until then, meat every other 
day will be often enough. 

As soon as a child has cut the whole of his first 
set of teeth, he can have nothing better than scald- 
ing hot new milk poured on sliced bread, with a 
slice or two of bread and butter to eat with it. 
Butter, in moderation, is nourishing, fattening, 
wholesome, and tends to keep the bowels regular. 
These facts should be borne in mind, as some 
mothers foolishly keep their children from butter, 
declaring it to be too rich for their children's 
stomachs. New milk should be used in prefer- 
ence to cream or skim milk. Cream, as a rule, is 
too rich for the delicate stomach of a child, and 
skim milk is too poor when robbed of the butter 
which the cream contains. But give cream and 
water, where new milk (as is occasionally the case) 
does not agree ; but never give skim milk. Skim 



MILK AS FOOD. 359 

milk, among other evils, produces costiveness, and 
necessitates the frequent administration of aperi- 
ents. Cream, on the other hand, regulates and 
tends to open the bowels. When a child has costive 
bowels, there is nothing better for his breakfast 
than well-made and well-boiled oatmeal mush, 
which ought to be eaten with milk fresh from the 
cow. Scotch children scarcely take anything else, 
and a finer race do not exist ; as to physic, many of 
them do not even know the taste or smell of it! 
You will find cow's milk is valuable, indeed, an 
indispensable article of diet for the young ; it is 
most nourishing, wholesome and digestible. The 
finest and the healthiest children are those who, 
for the first four or five years of their lives, are fed 
principally upon it. No child can live and be 
healthy unless milk is the staple article of his diet. 
There is no substitute for milk. To prove the fat- 
tening and strengthening qualities of milk, look 
only at a young calf who lives on milk, and on milk 
alone. He is a Samson in strength, and is as fat 
as butter; and all young things, if they are in 
health, are fat. 

Milk contains every ingredient to build up the 
body, which is more than can be said of any other 
known substance besides. A child may live en- 
tirely, and grow, and become both healthy and 
strong, on milk, and on milk alone, as it contains 
every constituent of the human body. A child 
cannot " live by bread alone," but he might on milk 
alone. Milk is animal and vegetable — it is meat 



360 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

and bread — it is food and drink — it is a fluid, but 
as soon as it reaches the stomach, it becomes a 
solid — solid food ; it is the most important and 
valuable article of diet for a child in existence. It 
is a glorious food for the young, and must never, 
on any account whatever, be dispensed with. 
Young children, as a rule, are allowed to eat too 
much meat. It is a mistaken notion of a mother 
that they require so much animal food. If more 
milk were given and less meat, they would be 
healthier, and would not be so predisposed to dis- 
ease, especially to diseases of debility, and to skin 
disease. 

I should strongly recommend you then, to be 
extravagant in your milk score. Each child ought, 
in the twenty-four hours, to take at least a quart 
of good, fresh, new milk. It should be given in 
various ways — as bread and milk, rice puddings, 
milk and different kinds of farinaceous food, mush 
and milk, plain milk, cold milk, hot milk, any way 
and every way, that will please his palate, and that 
will induce him to take an abundant supply of it. 
The advice I have just given you is of paramount 
importance, and demands your most earnest atten- 
tion. There would be very few rickety children 
in the world if my counsel were followed out to 
the very letter. 

But if a child will not take milk, having an 
aversion to it, then boil the milk, and sweeten it 
to suit his palate. After he has been accustomed 
to it for a while, he will then probably like milk. 



MILK AS FOOD. 361 

Gradually reduce the sugar, until at length it is 
dispensed with. A child will often take milk this 
way, whereas he will not otherwise touch it. If a 
child will not drink milk, he must eat meat ; it is 
absolutely necessary that he should have either 
one or the other, and, if he has cut nearly all his 
teeth, he ought to have both meat and milk — the 
former in moderation, the latter in abundance. 
Milk, either boiled or unboiled, almost always 
agrees with a child. If it does not, it must be 
looked upon as the exception, and not as the rule. 
I would, in such a case, advise one-eighth of lime 
water to be added to seven-eighths of new milk — 
that is, two tablespoonfuls of lime water should be 
mixed with half a pint of new milk. 

The children of the rich suffer much more from 
costiveness than the children of the poor. The prin- 
cipal reason is that the children of the rich drink milk 
without water, while the children of the poor drink 
water without or with very little milk — milk being 
binding, and water laxative in its effect. Be sure, 
then, and bear in mind, as this is most important advice, 
to see that water is mixed with all the milk that is 
given to your child. The combination of milk and 
water for a child is a glorious compound — strength- 
ening, fattening, refreshing and regulating to the 
bowels, and thus doing away with that disgraceful 
proceeding so common in nurseries, of everlasting 
physicking, irritating and irreparably injuring the 
tender bowels of a child. Cathartics, as a rule, are 
quite unnecessary, and should only be given in 



362 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

severe illness, and under the direction of a judicious 
doctor. How much misery and injury might be 
averted if milk were always given to a child in 
combination with water ! 

Aperients, by repetition, unlike water, increase 
the mischief tenfold, and bind up the bowels most 
effectually. A mother, before she gives an aper- 
ient to her* child should ponder well upon what I 
have said upon the subject, it being a vital ques- 
tion, affecting, as it does, the well-being and the 
well-doing of her child. If a child's bowels are 
very costive, do not give him a grain or a drop of 
laxative medicine, but administer an enema, a half 
teacup or teacupful, according to the age of the 
child,* of warm water ; this will effectually open 
the bowels, without confining them afterward, 
which opening physic would most assuredly do. 

If he wants anything to eat between breakfast 
and dinner let him have a piece of dry bread ; and 
if he has eaten very heartily at dinner, and, like 
Oliver Twist, " asks for more," give him a piece of 
dry bread to satisfy his craving. He will never eat 
more of it than will do him good, and yet he will 
take sufficient to satisfy his hunger, which is very 
important. He should now have meat, either mut- 
ton or beef, for dinner, daily, which must be cut 
up very small, and should be mixed with mealy, 
mashed potato and gravy. He ought always to be 

* For a babe, from birth until he is two years old, one, two or three 
tablespoonfuls of warm water will be sufficient. 



OBJECTIONABLE FOOD. 363 

accustomed to eat salt with his 'dinner. Let a 
mother see that this advice is followed, or evil 
consequences will inevitably ensue. Let him be 
closely watched, to ascertain that he well masti- 
cates his food, and that he does not eat too 
quickly, for young children are apt to bolt their 
food. 

Pork is rich, gross, and therefore unwholesome 
food for the delicate stomach of a child. I have 
known it to produce violent pain, sickness, purg- 
ing and convulsions. If a child is fed much upon 
such meat, it will be likely to produce pimples on 
the skin. In fine, his blood will put on the same 
character as the food he is fed with. Pork may 
be considered a strong meat, and " strong meat and 
strong drink can only be taken by strojtg men.'* 
My objection to pork is that it is rich and 
gross ; this does not apply to veal, but the objec- 
tion to that is, that it is more difficult of digestion 
than either mutton or beef ; indeed, all young 
meats are harder of digestion than meats of ma- 
turity ; thus mutton is more digestible than lamb, 
and beef than veal. If beef is much salted it is hard 
of digestion, and therefore ought not to be given ; 
but if slightly salted, there will be no objection to a 
little. Lightly boiled egg at any time makes an 
excellent change ; there is great nourishment in an 
egg ; it will not only strengthen the frame, but it 
will give animal heat as well. These two qualities 
are most valuable ; indeed, essential for the due 
performance of health ; many articles of food con- 



364 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

tain the one qualification, but not the other ; hence 
the egg is admirably suitable for a child's occasional 
dinner. 

Occasionally, either asparagus, broccoli, cauli- 
flower, turnips, or Lima beans may with advantage 
be given. Green peas may occasionally be given, 
providing they are thoroughly boiled and mashed 
with the knife on the plate. Underdone and un- 
mashed peas are not fit for a child's stomach ; there 
is nothing more difficult of digestion than under- 
done peas. It is important, too, to mash them, 
even if they are well done, as a child generally 
bolts peas whole ; and they pass through the 
alimentary canal without being in the least 
digested. 

I have recommended a great sameness in an 
infant's diet, but a child's meals, his dinners espe- 
cially, ought to be much varied. For instance, do 
not let him have mutton day after day, but ring 
the changes on mutton, beef, poultry, game, and 
even occasionally fish — sole or cod. 

Not only let there be a change of meat, but let 
there be a change in the manner of cooking it ; let 
the meat sometimes be roasted, at the other times 
boiled. I have known a mother who prided her- 
self as being experienced in these matters, feed her 
child, day after day, on mutton chops. Such a 
proceeding is most injurious to him, as after a 
while his unfortunate stomach will digest nothing 
but mutton chops, and in time, not even those. 

With regard to vegetables, potatoes — mashed 



OVER-FEEDING. 365 

potatoes — ought to be his staple vegetable, but 
every now and then, cauliflower, asparagus, turnips 
and Lima beans should be given. With respect 
to puddings, vary them, thus : Rice, one day ; suet, 
another ; batter, a third ; tapioca, a fourth ; or even 
occasionally, he might have apple, gooseberry or 
rhubarb pudding — providing the pastry is plain 
and light. It is an excellent plan, as I have before 
remarked, to let a child eat jam — such as straw- 
berry, raspberry, or gooseberry — and that without 
stint, either with rice or with batter puddings. 
Variety of diet is good for a child; it will give him 
muscle, bone and sinew, and what is very import- 
ant, it will tend to regulate his bowels, and thus 
prevent the necessity of giving him aperients. 

But do not stuff a child — do not press him, as 
is the wont of some mothers, to eat more than he 
feels inclined. On the contrary, if you think that 
he is eating too much — that he is overloading his 
stomach — and he should ask for more, then, in- 
stead of giving him more meat or pudding, give 
him a piece of dry bread. By doing so, you may 
rest assured that he will not eat more than is abso- 
lutely good for him. If he cannot eat well, de- 
pend upon it, there is something wrong about the 
system. 

Asking for something to eat, is frequently, in a 
severe illness, the first favorable symptom ; we may 
generally then prognosticate that all will soon be 
well again. If a child refuses his food, neither 
coax nor tempt him to eat, as food without an ap- 



366 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

petite will do him more harm than it will do him 
good ; it may produce either sickness, bowel 
complaint, or fever. Depend upon it, there is 
always a cause for a want of appetite ; perhaps 
his stomach has been overworked, and requires 
repose, or his bowels are loaded, and nature wishes 
to take time to use up the old material ; there 
may be fever lurking in his system ; nature stops 
the supplies, and thus endeavors, by not giving 
it food to work with, to nip it in the bud ; there 
may be inflammation ; food would then be im- 
proper, as it would only add fuel to the fire ; let 
the cause be either an overworked stomach, over- 
loaded bowels, fever, or inflammation, food would 
be injurious. Kind Nature, if we will but listen to 
her voice, will tell us when to eat, and when to 
refrain. 

Some parents are in the habit of giving their 
children strong (and frequently green) tea. This 
practice is most hurtful. It acts injuriously upon 
their delicate nervous system, and thus weakens 
their whole frame. If milk does not agree, a cup 
of very weak tea, water with a dash of black tea in 
it, with a tablespoonful of cream, may be substi- 
tuted for milk ; but a mother must never give tea 
where milk agrees. 

Cakes and sweetmeats are so much slow 
poison. Such things cloy and weaken the stom- 
ach, take away the appetite, and thus debilitate 
the frame. Sweetmeats are usually colored with 
poisonous pigments. A mother surely is not 



POISONOUS SWEETMEATS. 367 

aware, that when she is giving her child sugar 
confectionery she is, in many cases, administering 
a deadly poison to him ? 

A child's antipathy to certain articles of diet 
should be respected; it is a sin and a shame to 
force him to eat what he has a great dislike to; a 
child sometimes dislikes the fat of meat, under- 
done meat, the skin off boiled milk and off rice 
pudding. Why should he not have his likes and 
dislikes as well as "children of a larger growth'? 
Besides, there is an idiosyncrasy — a peculiarity of 
the constitution in some children — and nature of- 
tentimes points out what is good and what is bad 
for them individually, and we are not to fly in the 
face of Nature. If a child is forced to eat what he 
dislikes, it will most likely disorder his stomach 
and bowels ; food, if it is really to do him good, 
must be eaten by him with a relish, and not with 
disgust or aversion. Some mothers, who are strict 
disciplinarians, pride themselves on compelling 
their children to eat whatever they choose to give 
them. Such children are to be pitied ! 

A child ought to commence to dine with his 
parents as soon as he is old enough to sit up at the 
table, providing the father and mother dine or 
lunch in the middle of the day. I always prefer 
having children about me at mealtimes. I think 
it makes them little gentlemen and gentlewomen 
in a manner that nothing else will. 

The nursery. — The nursery ought to be the 
largest and most airy room in the house. In town, 



368 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

if it is in the top story (providing the apartment 
is large and airy) so much the better, as the air 
will then be purer. The architect, in the building 
of a house, ought to be particularly directed to 
pay attention to the space, the loftiness, the venti- 
lation, the light, the warming, and the conven- 
iences of a nursery. A bathroom attached to it will 
be of great importance and benefit to the health of 
a child. 

It will be advantageous to have a water-closet 
near at hand, which should be well supplied with 
water, be well drained, and well ventilated. If 
this is not practicable, the evacuations ought to 
be removed as soon as they are passed. It is a 
filthy and an idle habit to allow a motion to re- 
main for any length of time in a room. 

The ventilation of a nursery is of paramount 
importance. There ought to be a constant supply 
of fresh pure air in the apartment. But how few 
nurseries have fresh, pure air? Many nurseries 
are nearly hermetically sealed — the windows are 
seldom if ever opened ; the doors are religiously 
closed ; and, in summer time, the chimneys are 
carefully stuffed up, so that a breath of air is not 
allowed to enter. The consequences are that the 
poor unfortunate children are poisoned by their 
own breaths, and are made so delicate that they 
are constantly catching cold ; indeed, it may be 
said that they are laboring under chronic catarrhs, 
all arising from Nature's laws being set at defiance. 

The windows ought to be large, and should be 



THE NURSERY — VENTILATION. 369 

made to freely open, both at top and bottom. 
Whenever the child is out of the nursery, the win- 
dows ought to be thrown wide open ; indeed, when 
he is in it, if the weather is fine, the upper sash 
should be a little lowered. A child should be en- 
couraged to leave the room frequently, in order 
that it may be freely ventilated ; for good air is as 
necessary to his health as wholesome food, and air 
cannot be good if not frequently changed. If you 
wish to have a strong and healthy child, ponder 
over and follow this advice. 

A nursery is usually kept too hot ; the tempera- 
ture in the winter ought not to exceed 60 degrees 
Fahrenheit. A good thermometer should be con- 
sidered an indispensable requisite to a nursery. A 
child in a hot, close nursery is bathed in perspi- 
ration ; if he leaves the room to go to one of lower 
temperature, the pores of his skin are suddenly 
closed, and either a severe cold, or an inflam- 
mation of the lungs, or an attack of bronchitis, is 
likely to ensue. More than this, the child is weak- 
ened and enervated by the heat, and readily falls a 
prey to disease. 

A child ought never to be permitted to sit with 
his back to the fire; it weakens the spine, and thus 
the whole frame; it causes a rush of blood to the 
head and face, and predisposes him to colds. 
Pure air and pure water, and let me add, pure 
milk, are the grand and principal requirements of 
health for a child. 

Look well to the drainage of your house and 



370 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

neighborhood. A child is very susceptible to the 
influence of bad drainage. Bad drains are fruitful 
sources of scarlet fever, diphtheria, diarrhoea, etc. 

A nursery floor ought not to be washed oftener 
than once a week ; and then the child or children 
should be sent into another room until it is dry. 
During the dr) 7 ing of the floor, the windows must 
be thrown wide open. 

The constant wetting of a nursery floor is a 
frequent source of illness among the children. 
The floor ought to be kept clean ; but this may be 
done by thoroughly sweeping the'room out every 
morning before the little charge makes his ap- 
pearance. 

Do not have your nursery wall covered with 
green paper hangings. Green paper hangings con- 
tain large quantities of arsenic — arsenite of copper 
— which is a virulent poison, and which flies about 
the room in the form of powder. There is frequently 
enough poison on the walls of a room to destroy 
a whole neighborhood. There is another great ob- 
jection to having your nursery walls covered with 
green paper hangings ; if any of the paper should 
become loose from the walls a little child is very 
apt to play with it, and to put it, as he does every- 
thing else, to his mouth. This is not an imaginary 
state of things, as four children in one family have 
just lost their lives from sucking green paper hang- 
ings. Children's toys are frequently painted a 
green color with arsenite of copper, and are con- 
sequently highly dangerous for them to play with. 



CHILDHOOD S IDEAL HOME. 371 

The best toy for a child is a box of unpainted 
wooden bricks, which is a constant source of 
amusement to him. 

Let a child's home be the happiest house to him 
in the world ; and to be happy he must be merry 
and cheerful ; and he ought to have an abundance 
of playthings, to help on the merriment. If he 
has a dismal nurse, and a dismal home, he may as 
well be incarcerated in a prison, and be attended 
by a jailor. It is sad enough to see dismal, doleful 
men and women, but it is a truly lamentable and 
unnatural sight to see a doleful child. The young 
ought to be as playful and as full of innocent mis- 
chief as kittens. There will be quite time enough 
in after years for sorrow and for sadness. 

Bright colors, plenty of light, clean windows 
(mind this, if you please), an abundance of good 
colored prints, and toys without number, are the 
proper furnishings of a nursery. Nursery ! why, 
the very name tells you what it ought to be — the 
home of childhood — the most important room in 
the house — a room that will greatly tend to stamp 
the character of your child for the remainder of 
his life. A placid, well-regulated temper is very 
conducive to health. A disordered, or an over- 
loaded, stomach, is a frequent cause of peevishness. 
Appropriate treatment in such a case will, of 
course, be necessary. 

I do not approve of a carpet in a nursery, un- 
less it is a small piece for a child to roll upon. A 
carpet harbors dirt and dust, which dust is con- 



372 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

stantly floating about the atmosphere, and thus 
making it impure for him to breathe. The truth 
of this may be easily ascertained by entering a 
darkened room, where a ray of sunshine is strug- 
gling through a crevice in the shutters. If the 
floor of a nursery must be covered, let a drugget 
be laid down ; and this may, every morning, be 
taken up and shaken. The less furniture a nursery 
contains the better, for much furniture obstructs 
the free circulation of the air, and prevents a child 
from taking proper play and exercise in the room 
— an abundance of which are absolutely necessary 
for his health. 

You cannot be too particular in the choice of 
those who are in constant attendance upon him. 
Yourself must be his head iturse — you only require 
some one to take the drudgery off your hands. 
You ought to be particularly careful in the selec- 
tion of his nurse. She should be steady, lively, 
truthful, and good tempered ; and must be free 
from any natural imperfection, such as squinting, 
stammering, etc., for a child is such an imitative 
creature that he is likely to acquire that defect, 
which in the nurse is natural. Children, like 
babies, are quick at taking notice. What they 
see they mark, and what they mark they are very 
prone to copy. 

The nurse ought not to be very young, or she 
may be thoughtless, careless, and giggling. You 
have no right to set a child to mind a child ; it 
would be like the blind leading the blind. No ! a 



ON FRIGHTENING CHILDREN. 3^3 

child is too precious a treasure to be intrusted to 
the care and keeping of a young girl. Many a 
child has been ruined for life by a careless young 
nurse dropping him and injuring his spine. 

Never should a nurse be allowed to wear a 
mask, nor to dress up and paint herself as a ghost, 
or as any other frightful object. A child is nat- 
urally timid and full of fears, and what would not 
make the slightest impression upon a grown up 
person might throw a child into fits. Never 
should she be permitted to tell her little charge 
frightful stories of ghosts and hobgoblins ; if this 
is allowed, the child's disposition will become 
timid and wavering, and may continue so for the 
remainder of his life. 

If a little fellow were not terrified by such 
stories, the darkness would not frighten him more 
than the light. The mind, thus filled with fear, 
acts upon the body, and injures the health. A 
child must never be placed in a dark cellar, nor 
frightened by tales of rats, etc. Instances are re- 
lated of fear thus induced impairing the intellect 
for life, and there are numerous examples of sud- 
den fright causing a dangerous and even fatal 
illness. 

This frightening of a child by a silly nurse fre- 
quently brings on night-terrors. He wakes up 
suddenly, soon after going to sleep, frightened and 
terrified, screaming violently, and declaring that 
he has seen either some ghost, or thief, or some 
object that the silly nurse had been previously 



374 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

describing, who is come for him to take him away. 
The little fellow is the very picture of terror and 
alarm ; he hides his face in his mother's bosom, 
perspiration streams down him, and it is some time 
before he can be pacified — when, at length, he falls 
into a troubled, feverish slumber, to awake in the 
morning unrefreshed. Night after night these ter- 
rors harrass him, until his health materially suffers, 
and his young life becomes miserable, looking for- 
ward with dread to the approach of darkness. 

Treatme7it of night terrors. — If they have been 
brought on b} 7 the folly of the nurse, discharge 
her at once, and be careful to select a more dis- 
creet one. When the child retires to rest, leave a 
candle burning, and let it burn all night ; sit with 
him until he is asleep ; and take care, in case he 
should rouse up in one of his night terrors, that 
either yourself or some kind person is near at 
hand. Do not scold him for being frightened — he 
cannot help it ; but soothe him, calm him, fondle 
him, take him into } 7 our arms and let him feel that 
he has some one to rest upon, to defend and to pro- 
tect him. It is frequently in these cases necessary, 
before he can be cured, to let him have change of 
air and change of scene. Let him live a great 
part of the day in the open air. 

A nurse-maid should never be allowed to whip 
a child. " Does ever any man or woman remember 
the feeling of being ' whipped ' as a child, the fierce 
anger, the insupportable ignominy, the longing for 
revenge, which blotted out all thought of contrition 



THE CHILDREN S HOUR. 375 

for the fault, or rebellion against the punishment ? 
With this recollection on their own parts, I can 
hardly suppose any parents venturing to inflict it, 
much less allowing its infliction by another under 
any circumstances whatever. A nurse-maid or 
domestic of any sort, once discovered to have 
lifted up her hand against a child, ougnt to meet 
instant rebuke, and on a repetition of the offense 
instant dismissal." 

I have seen a lazy nurse sit before the fire in the 
winter time with a child on her lap, rubbing his 
cold feet just before putting him to bed. This 
is not the way to warm his feet. The right method 
is to let him romp and run either about the room 
or the hall — this will effectually warm them ; but 
it will entail a little extra trouble on the nurse, as 
she will have to use a little exertion to induce him 
to do so, and this extra trouble a lazy nurse will not 
relish. Warming the feet before a fire will give 
the little fellow chilblains, and will make him when 
he is in bed more chilly. The only way for him 
to have a good romp before he goes to bed, is for 
the mother to join in the game. She may rest 
assured that if she does so, her child will not be 
the only one to benefit by it. She will find it of 
marvelous benefit to her own health ; it will warm 
her own feet, it will be almost sure to insure her 
a good night, and will make her feel so light and 
buoyant as almost to fancy that she is a girl again. 
Let every child before going to bed, hold a high 
court of revelry ; let him have an hour — the Chil- 



376 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

dren's Hour — devoted to romp, to dance, to shout, 
to sing - , to riot, and to play, and let him be the 
master of the revels — 

' ' Between the dark and the daylight, 

When the night is beginning to lower, 
Comes a pause in the day's occupation, 
Which is known as the Children's Hour." 

— Longfellow. 

Let a child be employed — take an interest in 
his employment, let him fancy that he is useful — 
and he is useful — he is laying up a stock of health. 
He is much more usefully employed than many 
other grown up children are. 

A child should be happy ; he must, in every 
way, be made happy ; everything ought to be done 
to conduce to his happiness, to give him joy, glad- 
ness and pleasure. Happy he should be, as happy 
as the day is long. Kindness should be lavished 
upon him. Make a child understand that you love 
him ; prove it in your actions — these are better 
than words ; look after his little pleasures — join in 
his little sports ; let him never hear a morose 
word — it would rankle in his breast, take deep 
root, and in due time bring forth bitter fruit. 
Love ! let love be his polar star ; let it be the guide 
and the rule of all you do and all you say to him. 
Let your face, as well as your tongue, speak love. 
Let your hands be ever ready to minister to his 
pleasures and to his play. " Blessed be the hand 
that prepares a pleasure for a child, for there is no 
saying when and where it may again bloom forth. 



A LONG-REMEMBERED KINDNESS. ^77 

Does not almost everybody remember some kind- 
hearted man who showed him a kindness in the 
dulcet days of childhood ? The writer of this 
recollects himself, at this moment, a barefooted 
lad, standing at the wooden fence of a poor little 
garden in his native village, while, with longing 
eyes, he gazed on the flowers which were bloom- 
ing there quietly in the brightness of the Sabbath 
morning. The possessor came from his little cot- 
tage. He was a wood-cutter by trade, and spent 
the whole week at work in the woods. He had 
come into the garden to gather flowers to stick in 
his coat when he went to church. He saw the 
boy, and breaking off the most beautiful of his car- 
nations (it was streaked with red and white), he 
gave it to him. Neither the giver nor the receiver 
spoke a word, and with bounding steps the boy 
ran home. And now here, at a vast distance from 
that home, after so many events of so many years, 
the feeling of gratitude which agitated the breast 
of the boy, expresses itself on paper. The carna- 
tion has long since faded, but it now bloometh 
afresh." — Douglas J err old. 

The hearty, ringing laugh of the child is sweet 
music to the ear. There are three most joyous 
sounds in nature — the hum of the bee, the purr 
of a cat, and the laugh of a child. They tell of 
peace, of happiness, and of contentment, and 
make one for a while forget that there is so much 
misery in the world. 

A man who dislikes children is unnatural: he 



3/8 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

has no milk of human kindness in him ; he should 
be shunned. Give me, for a friend, a man — 

" Who takes the children on his knee, 
And winds their curls about his hand." 

— Tennyson. 

A child's troubles are soon over — his tears are 
soon dried; " nothing dries sooner than a tear" — if 
not prolonged by improper management. Never 
allow a child to be teased ; it spoils his temper. If 
he is in a cross humor take no notice of it, but di- 
vert his attention to some pleasing object. This 
may be done without spoiling him. Do not com- 
bat bad temper with bad temper — noise with noise. 
Be firm, be kind, be gentle, be loving, speak 
quietly, smile tenderly, and embrace him fondly, 
but insist upon implicit obedience, and you will have, 
with God's blessing, a happy child. 

Speak gently to a child ; speak gently to all ; but 
more especially speak gently to a child. Pleasant 
words ought always to be spoken to a child ; there 
must be neither snarling, nor snapping, nor snub- 
bing, nor loud contention toward him. If there 
is it will ruin his temper and disposition, and will 
make him hard, harsh, morose and disagreeable. 

Do not always be telling your child how wicked 
he is ; what a naughty boy he is ; that God will 
never love him, and all the rest of such twaddle 
and blatant inanity ! Do not, in point of fact, bully 
him, as many poor little fellows are bullied. It 
will ruin him if you do ; it will make him in after 
years, either a coward or a tyrant. Such conver- 



HOME TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. 379 

sation, like constant droppings of water, will make 
an impression, and will cause him to feel that it is 
of no use to try to be good —that he is hopelessly 
wicked. Instead of such language, give him con- 
fidence in himself; rather find out his good points 
and dwell upon them ; praise him where and 
whenever you can ; and make him feel that, by 
perseverance and by God's blessing, he will make 
a good man. Speak truthfully to your child ; if 
you once deceive him, he will not believe you for 
the future. Not only so, but if you are truthful 
yourself you are likely to make him truthful — like 
begets like. There is something beautiful in 
truth ! A lying child is an abomination ! Sir 
Walter Scott says " that he taught his son to ride, 
to shoot, and to tell the truth." Archdeacon Hare 
asserts " that Purity is the feminine, Truth the 
masculine of Honor " 

As soon as a child can speak he should be made 
to lisp the noble words of truth, and to love it, and 
to abhor a lie. What a beautiful character he will 
then make. 

Have no favorites, show no partiality ; for the 
young are very jealous, sharp-sighted and quick- 
witted, and take a dislike to the petted one. Do 
not rouse the old Adam in them. Let children be 
taught to be " kindly affectionate one to another 
with brotherly love;" let them be encouraged to 
share each other's toys and playthings, and to 
banish selfishness. 

Attend to a child's little pleasures. It is the lit- 



3S0 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

tie pleasures of a child that constitute his happi- 
ness. Great pleasures come but seldom, and are 
the exception, and not the rule. 

Let a child be nurtured in love, '* It will be 
seen," says the author of John Halifax, "that I 
hold this law of kindness as the Alpha and Omega 
of education. I once asked one, in his own house, 
a father in everything but the name, his authority 
unquestioned, his least word held in reverence, 
his smallest wish obeyed — ' How did you ever 
manage to bring up these children ? ' He said, 
1 By love! " 

Let every word and action prove that you love 
your children. Enter into all their lictle pursuits 
and pleasures. Join them in their play, and be a 
child again. If they are curious, do not check 
their curiosity, but rather encourage it ; for they 
have a great deal — as we all have — to learn, and 
how can they know if they are not taught ? You 
may depend upon it the knowledge they obtain 
from observation is far superior to that obtained 
from books. Let all you teach them, let all you 
do, and let all you say, bear the stamp of love. 
" Endeavor, from first to last, in your intercourse 
with your children, to let it bear the impress of 
love. It is not enough that you feel affection 
toward your children — that you are devoted to 
their interests ; you must show in your manner 
the fondness of your heart toward them. Young 
minds cannot appreciate great sacrifices made for 
them ; they judge their parents by the words and 



EXERCISE. 381 

deeds df everyday life. They are won by little 
kindnesses, and alienated by little acts of neglect 
or impatience. One complaint unnoticed, one 
appeal unheeded, one lawful request arbitrarily 
refused, will be remembered by your little ones 
more than a thousand acts of the most devoted 
affection." 

Exercise. — A child, during- the summer months, 
should be sent out before breakfast when the 
weather will permit, and providing the wind is 
neither in an easterly nor in a northeasterly direc- 
tion ; indeed, he can scarcely be too much in the open 
air. He must not be allowed to stand about 
draughts or about entries, and the only way to pre- 
vent him doing so is for the mother herself to accom- 
pany him. She will then kill two birds with one 
stone, as she will, by doing so, benefit her own as 
well as her child's health. 

A child ought not to be early put on his feet to 
walk ; let him learn to walk himself. He ought to 
be put upon a carpet, and it will be found that 
when he is strong enough, he will hold by a chair 
and will stand alone. When he can do so, and at- 
tempts to walk, he should then be supported. 
You must, on first putting him upon his feet, be 
guided by his own wishes. He will have the in- 
clination as soon as he is strong enough, to walk. 
When he has the inclination and strength it will 
be folly to restrain him ; if he has neither the in- 
clination nor the strength, it will be absurd to 
urge him on. Rely, therefore, to a certain extent, 



382 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

upon the inclination of the child himself. Self-re- 
liance cannot be too early taught him, and, indeed, 
every one else. In the generality of instances, 
however, a child is put on his feet too soon, and 
the bones at that tender age, being very flexible, 
bend, causing bowed and bandy-legs ; and the 
knees, being weak, approximate too closely to- 
gether, and thus they become knock-kneed. This 
advice I must strongly insist on, as many mothers 
are so ridiculously ambitious that their babies 
should walk early — that they should walk before 
other children of their acquaintance have at- 
tempted — that they have frequently caused the 
above lamentable deformities, which is a standing 
reproach to them during the rest of their lives. 

In fine weather a child ought to be sent out as 
often as possible. If children lived more in the 
open air they would neither be so susceptible to 
disease, nor suffer so much from teething and from 
catching cold. 

On wet days, the child ought to run about a 
large room, or the hall ; and if it does not rain 
violently, you should put on his hat and throw up 
the window, taking care while the window is open 
that he does not stand still. A wet day is the day 
for him to hold his high court of revelry, and " to 
mate him as happy as the day is long.'' 

Do not allow him to sit any length of time at a 
table, amusing himself with books, etc. ; let him be 
active and stirring, that his blood may freely cir- 
culate as it ought to do, and that his muscles may 



EXERCISE. 383 

be well developed. I would rather see him 
actively engaged in mischief than sitting still, 
doing nothing. He ought to be put on the carpet, 
and should then be tumbled and rolled about to 
make the blood bound merrily through the vessels, 
to stir up the liver, to promote digestion, and to 
open the bowels. 

In winter, even if the weather is very cold, you 
should still send a child out, providing he is well 
wrapped up. The cold will brace and strengthen 
him. Cold weather is the finest tonic in the world. 
In frosty weather, send him out to walk, put a 
pair of large old woolen stockings over his boots 
or shoes. This will not only keep his legs and feet 
warm, but it will prevent him from falling down 
and hurting himself. While thus equipped, he 
may even walk on a slide of ice without falling 
down. 

In the winter time a child requires plenty of 
flannel and plenty of food, plenty of fresh and 
genuine milk, and plenty of water in his tub to 
wash and bathe him in the morning, plenty of exer- 
cise and plenty of play, and then he may brave 
the frosty air. It is the coddled, the half-washed, 
and the half-starved child (half-washed and half- 
starved from either the woman's ignorance or from 
the mother's timidity), that is the chilly starveling 
— catching cold at every breath of wind, and every 
time he goes out into the open air — a puny, skinny, 
scraggy, scarecrow, more dead than alive,, and 
more fit for the grave than for the rough world he 



384 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

will have to struggle in. If the above advice is 
strictly followed, a child may be sent out in the 
coldest weather. 

Amusements. — Let the amusements of a child be 
as much as possible out of doors ; let him spend 
the greater part of every day in the open air ; let 
him exert himself as much as he please, his feel- 
ings will tell him when to rest, and when to begin 
again; let him be what Nature intended him to 
be — a happy, laughing, joyous child. Do not let 
him be always poring over books. He ought to 
be encouraged to engage in those sports wherein 
the greatest number of muscles are brought into 
play. For instance, to play at ball, or hoop, or 
football ; to play at horses, to run to certain 
distances and back, and if a girl, to amuse herself 
with skipping rope, such being excellent exer- 
cise — 

"By sports like these are all their cares beguiled, 
The sports of children satisfy the child." — Goldsmith. 

Ever} 7 child, where practicable, should have a 
small plot of ground to cultivate, that he may dig 
and delve in, and make dirt pies if he choose. 
Children nowadays are not allowed, unfortu- 
nately, to soil their hands and their fine clothes. For 
my own part, I dislike such model children ; let a 
child be natural — let him, as far as possible, choose 
his own sports. Do not be always interfering with 
his pursuits, and be finding fault with him. Re- 
member, what may be amusing to you may be dis- 
tasteful to him. I do not, of course, mean but 



AMUSEMENTS. 385 

that you should constantly have a watchful eye 
over him, yet do not let him see that he is under 
restraint or surveillance ; if you do you will never 
discover his true character and inclinations. Not 
only so, but do not dim the bright sunshine of his 
early life by constantly checking and thwarting 
him. 

When he is in the nursery or the playground 
let him shout and riot and romp about as much 
as he pleases. His lungs and his muscles want 
developing, and his nerves require strengthening ; 
and how can such be accomplished unless you 
allow them to be developed and strengthened by 
natural means? 

The nursery is a child's own domain ; it is his 
castle, and he should be Lord Paramount therein. 
If he chooses to blow a whistle, to spring a rattle, 
or to make any other hideous noise, which to him is 
sweet music, he should be allowed to do so. If 
any members of the family have weak nerves, let 
them keep at a respectful distance. 

A child who never gets into mischief must be 
either sly, delicate, or idiotic. Indeed, the system 
many persons employ in bringing up their chil- 
dren, is likely to make them either the one or the 
other. The present plan of training children is 
nearly all work (books), and very little play. 
Play, and plenty of it, is necessary to the very 
existence of a child. 

A boy not partial to mischief, innocent mis- 
chief, and play, is unnatural ; he is a man before 
25 



386 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

his time. Girls, at the present time, are made 
clever simpletons ; their brains are worked with 
useless knowledge, which totally unfits them for 
everyday duties. Their muscles are allowed to 
be idle, which makes them limp and flabby. The 
want of proper exercise ruins the complexion, and 
their faces become of the color of a tallow candle. 
And precious wives and mothers they make when 
they grow up. Grow up, did you say ? They 
grow all manners of ways, and are crooked as 
crooked sticks. 

What an unnatural thing it is to confine a child 
several hours a day to his lessons ; why, you 
might as well put a colt in harness, and make him 
work for his living ! A child is made for play ; 
his roguish little eye, his lithe figure, his antics, 
and his drollery, all point out that he is cut out 
for play — that it is as necessary to his existence as 
the food he eats, and as the air he breathes. 

A child ought not to be allowed to have play- 
things with which he can injure himself or others, 
such as toy-swords, toy-cannons, toy-paint boxes, 
knives, bows and arrows, hammers, chisels, saws, 
etc. He will be likely to injure himself and 
others, and will make sad havoc on furniture, 
house, and other property. Fun, frolic, and play 
ought, in all innocent ways, to be encouraged ; but 
willful mischief and dangerous games ought, by 
all means, to be discountenanced. This is fre- 
quently much needed, as children prefer to have 
and delight in dangerous toys, and often coax and 



AMUSEMENTS. 387 

persuade weak and indulgent mothers to gratify 
their wishes. 

Children's paint boxes are very dangerous 
toys for a child to play with ; many of the paints 
are poisonous, containing arsenic, lead, gamboge, 
etc., and a child, when painting, is apt to put the 
brush into his mouth, to absorb the superabundant 
fluid. Of all the colors, the green paint is the most 
dangerous, as it is frequently composed of arsenite 
of copper — arsenic and copper — two most deadly 
poisons. 

There are some paint boxes warranted not to 
contain a particle of poison of any kind ; these 
ought to be chosen by a mother. But remember, 
although he ought not to be allowed to have 
poison paint boxes and poison-painted toys, he 
must have an abundance of toys, such as the white 
wood toys — brewers' drays, express wagons, boxes 
of wooden bricks, etc. The Noah's Ark is one of 
the most amusing and instructive toys for a child. 
"Those fashioned out . of brown, unpainted pine 
wood are the best, I think, because they will sur- 
vive a good deal of knocking about, and can be 
sucked with impunity. From the first dawn of 
recollection, children are thus familiarized with 
the forms of natural objects, and may be well up 
in natural history before they have mastered the 
A B C." 

Parents often make Sunday a day of gloom ; to 
this I must object. Of all the days in the week, 
Sunday should be the most cheerful and pleasant. 



388 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

It is considered by the church a festival ; and a 
glorious festival it ought to be made, and one on 
which our Heavenly Father wishes to see all His 
children happy and full of innocent joy. Let Sun- 
day, then, be made a cheerful, joyous, innocently 
happy day, and not, as it frequently is, the most 
miserable and dismal in the week. It is my firm 
conviction that many men have been made irreli- 
gious by the ridiculously strict and dismal way 
they were compelled, as children, to spend their 
Sundays. You can no more make a child reli- 
gious by gloomy asceticism, than you can make 
people good by an act of Congress. 

Play is absolutely necessary to a child's very 
existence, as much as are food and sleep. Play- 
grounds and play are the best schools we have ; 
they teach a great deal not taught elsewhere ; they 
give lessons in health, which is the grandest wealth 
that can be bestowed — for health is wealth ; they 
prepare the soil for the future schoolmaster ; they 
clear the brain, and thus the intellect ; they 
strengthen the muscles; they make the blood 
course merrilv through the arteries ; they bestow 
healthy food for the lungs ; they give an appetite ; 
the}- make a child, in due time, become every inch 
a man. Playgrounds and play are one of the 
finest institutions we possess. What would our 
large public schools be without their play and ball 
grounds? They would be shorn of half their 
splendor and usefulness. 

There is so much talk nowadays about useful 



EDUCATION. 389 

knowledge, that the importance of play and play- 
grounds is likely to be forgotten. I cannot help 
thinking, however, that a better state of things is 
dawning. "It seems to be found out that in our 
zeal for useful knowledge, that knowledge is found 
to be not the least useful which treats boys as 
active, stirring, aspiring, and ready." 

Education. — I heartily approve of Kindergarten 
schools, if the arrangement is such that health is 
preferred before learning. Let the children be 
confined for only three or four hours a day, and 
let what little they learn be taught as an amuse- 
ment rather than as a labor. A playground ought 
to be attached to an infant school ; where, in fine 
weather, for every half-hour they spend indoors, 
they should spend one in the open air ; and in wet 
weather, they ought to have, in place of the play- 
ground, a large room to romp, and shout, and riot 
in. To develop the different organs, muscles, and 
other parts of the body, children require plenty 
of fresh air, the free use of their lungs, active ex- 
ercise, and their bodies to be thrown in all manner 
of attitudes. Let a child mope in a corner, and he 
will become stupid and sickly. The march of in- 
tellect, as it is called, or rather the double-quick 
march of intellect, as it should be called, has stolen 
a march upon health. Onty allow the march of 
intellect and the march of health to take equal 
strides, and then we shall have a sound mind in a 
sound body. 

In the education of a young child it is better to 



390 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

instruct him by illustration, by pictures, and by 
encouraging- observation on things around and 
about him, than by books. It is surprising how 
much, without endangering his health, may be 
taught in this way. In educating your child, be 
careful to instill and to form good habits — they 
will then stick to him for life. 

Children at the present day are too highly edu- 
cated — their brains are overtaxed, and thus weak- 
ened. Children are now taught what formerly 
youths were taught. The chord of a child's life is 
oft-times snapped asunder in consequence of over 
education. You should treat a child as you would 
a young colt. Think only at first of strengthening 
his body. Let him have a perfectly free, happy 
life, plenty of food to eat, abundance of air to 
breathe, and no work to do ; there is plenty of 
time to think of his learning — of giving him brain 
work. It will come only too soon ; but do not 
make him old before his time. 

Remember, as above stated, the brain must have 
but very little work until the child is seven years old; 
impress this advice upon your memory, and let no 
foolish ambition to make your child a clever child 
allow you, for one moment, to swerve from this 
advice. Build up a strong, healthy body, and in 
due time the brain will bear a moderate amount of 
intellectual labor. As I have given the mother so 
much advice, permit me, for one moment, to ad- 
dress a word to the father of the child : 

Let me advise you then, Mr. Paterfamilias, to be 



ADVICE TO FATHERS. 391 

careful how you converse, what language you use, 
while in the company of your child. Bear in 
mind, a child is very observant, and thinks much, 
weighs well, and seldom forgets all you say and 
all you do. Let no hasty word, and more espe- 
cially no oath, or impious language, ever pass your 
lips, if your child is within hearing. It is at all 
times wicked to swear; but it is heinously and un- 
pardonably sinful to swear in the presence of your 
child. "Childhood is like a mirror, catching and 
reflecting images. One impious or profane 
thought, uttered by a parent's lip, may operate 
on the young heart like a careless spray of water 
thrown upon polished steel, staining it with rust, 
which no after scouring can efface." 

Never talk secrets before a child — "little 
pitchers have long ears ;" if you do, and he dis- 
closes your secrets — as most likely he will — and 
thus make mischief, it will be cruel to scold him ; 
you will, for your imprudence, have only yourself 
to blame. Be most careful, then, in the presence 
of your child, of what you say, and of whom you 
speak. This advice, if followed, may save a great 
deal of annoyance and vexation. 

A child, should be taught singing. I consider 
singing a part of his education. Singing expands 
the walls of the chest, strengthens and invigorates 
his lungs, gives sweetness to his voice, improves 
his pronunciation, and is a great pleasure and 
amusement to him. 

Sleep. — A hair mattress is the best for a child to 



392 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

lie on. The pillow, too, should be made of hair. 
A feather pillow often causes the head to be bathed 
in perspiration, thus enervating the child, and 
making him liable to catch cold. If he is at all 
rickety, weak in the neck, inclined to stoop, or at 
all crooked, by all means let him lie without a 
pillow. 

Let him be put on his mattress awake, that he 
may sleep for a couple of hours before dinner, then 
he will rise refreshed and strengthened for the 
remainder of the day. 1 said, let him be put down 
awake. He may cry for the first few times, but by 
perseverance he will without any difficulty fall to 
sleep. The practice of sleeping before dinner 
ought to be continued until he is three years old, 
and if he can be prevailed upon, even longer. For 
if he does not have sleep in the middle of the day, 
he will be cross all the afternoon and the evening, 
and when he goes to bed he will probably be too 
tired to sleep, or will fall into a troubled, broken 
slumber, and not into sweet, soft, gentle repose so 
characteristic of healthy, happy childhood. 

A child ought to be put to bed in the evening, 
at six in the winter, and at seven o'clock in the 
summer. Regularity ought to be observed, as 
regularity is very conducive to health. It is a repre- 
hensible practice to keep a child up until nine or 
ten o'clock at night. - If this is done he will be- 
come old before his time, and the seeds of disease 
will be sown. 

As soon as he can run, let him be encouraged, 



sleep. 393 

for half an hour before he goes to bed, to race 
either about the hall, or the landing, or a large 
room, which will be the best means of warming his 
feet, of preventing chilblains, and of making him 
sleep soundly. 

If a child sleeps alone, place him fairly on his 
side in the middle of the bed ; if it is winter time, 
see that his arms and hands are covered with the 
bedclothes; if it is summer, his hands may be 
allowed to be outside the clothes. In putting him 
down to sleep, you should ascertain that his face is 
not covered with the bedclothes ; if it is he will be 
poisoned with his own breath. The breath con- 
stantly gives off carbonic acid gas ; which gas 
must be breathed if his face is smothered in the 
clothes. 

You can readily prove the existence of carbonic 
acid gas in the breath, by simply breathing into 
a little lime water; after breathing for a few 
seconds into it, a white film will form on the top ; 
the carbonic acid gas from the breath unites with 
the lime of the lime water, and the product of the 
white film is carbonate of lime. 

A bedroom ought to be darkened at night ; a 
child sleeps sounder and sweeter in a dark than in 
a light room. There is nothing better for the pur- 
pose of darkening a bedroom than Venetian blinds. 
Remember, a well-ventilated, but a darkened, 
chamber at night. The cot or the crib ought not 
to face the window, as the light is best behind. 

The best position for a child when sleeping is 



394 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

on his side ; he ought to be accustomed to change 
about on the right side one night, on the left 
another, and occasionally he should lie on his 
back. By adopting this plan, you will not only 
improve his figure, but likewise his health. Lying, 
night after night, in one position, would be likely 
to make him crooked. 

Unless the weather is intensely cold, I dislike 
fires in bedrooms, especially for children ; they are 
very enervating, and make a child liable to catch 
cold. Cold weather is very bracing, particularly 
at night. ".Generally speaking, during winter, 
apartments are too much heated. The tempera- 
ture in them ought not to exceed 59 Fahrenheit ; 
and even in periods of great cold, scientific men 
declare that 45 ° to 50 had better not be exceeded. 
In the wards of hospitals, and in the chambers of 
the sick, care is taken not to have greater heat than 
56 . Clerks in offices, and other persons of seden- 
tary occupations, when rooms in which they sit are 
too much heated, are liable to congestion of the 
brain and to lung complaints. In bedrooms, and 
particularly those of children, the temperature 
ought to be maintained rather low ; only rarely is 
it even prudent to make fires in them — especially 
during the night." 

If a cold stable makes a healthy horse, I am 
quite sure that a moderately cold and well-venti- 
lated bedroom helps to make a healthy child. 
Still, if the weather is biting cold, a little fire in the 
bedroom is desirable. In bringing up children we 



MORNING TREATMENT. 395 

must never run into extremes — the coddling system 
and the hardening system are both to be depre- 
cated ; the coddling system will make the strong 
child weakly, while the hardening system will 
probably kill a delicate one. 

A child's bed ought to be comfortably clothed 
with blankets — I say blankets, as they are much 
superior to coverlids ; the perspiration will more 
readily pass through a blanket than a coverlid. 
A thick coverlid ought never to be used ; there is 
nothing better for a child's bed than the old-fash- 
ioned patchwork coverlid, as the perspiration will 
easily escape through it. 

A child should be washed and dressed as soon 
as he awakes in the morning, if he awakes in any- 
thing like reasonable time. If he dozes after he is 
once awake, such slumber does him more harm 
than good. He should be up every morning as 
soon as it is light. If he is taught, to rise early, it 
will make him an early riser for life, and will tend 
greatly to prolong both his existence and his 
happiness. 

Never awake a child from his sleep to dress him, 
to give him medicine, or for any other purpose ; 
let him sleep as long as he can; but the moment he 
awakens place him upon his chair, and then let 
him be washed and dressed. Do not wait until 
he has wet his bed, until his -blood is chilled, and 
until he is cross, miserable, and uncomfortable. 
How many babes are made ill by such foolish 
practices. The moment he leaves his bed turn the 



396 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

clothes back to the fullest extent, in order that 
they may be thoroughly ventilated and sweetened. 
They ought to be exposed to the air for at least an 
hour before the bed is made. As soon as he 
leaves his room, be it winter or summer, throw 
open the windows. 

A child ought to sleep alone after he is weaned. 
He will rest more comfortably, and his sleep will 
be more refreshing. If your child should not 
sleep well, try the effects of exercise. Exercise in 
the open air is the best composing medicine in the 
world. Let the little fellow be well tired out, and 
there will be little fear of his not sleeping. Send 
a child joyful to bed. Do not, if you can possibly 
help it, let him go to bed crying. Let the last 
impressions he has at night be of his happy home, 
and of his loving father and mother, and let his 
last thoughts be those of joy and gladness. He 
will sleep all the sounder if he is sent to bed in such 
a frame of mind, and he will be more refreshed 
and nourished in the morning by his sleep. 

When a child walks in his sleep the usual causes 
are a disordered stomach, a nervous temperament, 
or worms. A trusty person ought to sleep in his 
room, who should have directions given not to 
arouse him from his sleep, but to gently lead him 
back to his bed, which may frequently be done 
without awakening him. 

Second dentition. — A child commences to cut 
his second set of teeth generally when about 
seven years old. He begins to cut them at about 



SECOND DENTITION. 397 

that time, but it should be borne in mind that the 
second crop of teeth, in embryo, is actually bred 
and formed from the very commencement of his 
life, under the first tier of teeth, but which remain 
in abeyance for years, and do not come into play 
until the first teeth, having done their duty, loosen 
and fall out, and thus make room for the more 
numerous, larger, stronger and more permanent 
teeth, which later have to last for the remainder 
of his existence. The first set is sometimes cut 
with a great deal of difficulty, and produces various 
diseases ; the second, or permanent teeth, come 
easily, and are unaccompanied with any disorder. 
The following is the process ; One after another 
of the first set gradually loosen, or either drop 
out, or with little pain are readily pulled out; 
under these, the second — the permanent — teeth 
make their appearance, and fill up the vacant 
spaces. The fang of the tooth that has dropped 
out is nearly all absorbed or eaten away, leaving 
little more than the crown. The first set consists 
of twenty ; the second (including the wisdom- 
teeth, which are not generally cut until after the 
age of twenty-seven) consists of thirty-two. 

I would recommend you to pay particular atten- 
tion to the teeth of your children; for, besides 
their being ornamental, their regularity and sound- 
ness are of great importance to the present as well 
as to the future health of your offspring. If there 
is any irregularity in the appearance of the second 
set, lose no time in consulting an experienced and 
reliable dentist. 



398 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

A mother should be made acquainted with the 
symptoms of the serious diseases of children. I 
am not advocating the doctrine that a mother 
should treat serious diseases ; far from it ; it is not 
her province, except in certain cases of extreme 
urgency, where a doctor cannot be procured, and 
where delay might be death ; but I do insist 
upon the necessity of her knowing the symptoms 
of disease. My belief is that if parents were 
better informed on such subjects, many chil- 
dren's lives might be saved, much suffering averted, 
and sorrow spared. The fact is, the knowledge of 
the symptoms of disease is, to a mother, almost a 
sealed book. If she were better acquainted with 
these matters, how much more useful would she 
be in a sick room, and how much more readily 
would she enter into the plans and views of the 
physician. By her knowledge of symptoms, and 
by having his advice in time, she would nip dis- 
ease in the bud, and the light might end in favor 
of life, for ''sickness is just a fight between life 
and death." 

It is really lamentable to contemplate the amount 
of ignorance that still exists among mothers in all 
that appertains to the diseases of children ; al- 
though, fortunately, they are beginning to see and 
to feel the importance of gaining instruction on 
such subjects, but the light is only dawning. A 
writer of the Medical Times and Gazette makes the 
following remarks, which somewhat bear on the 
subject in question. He observes, — " In spite of 



WATER ON THE BRAIN. 399 

the knowledge and clear views possessed by the 
profession on all that concerns the management of 
children, no fact is more palpable than that the most 
grievous ignorance and incompetency prevail re- 
specting it among the public. We want some 
means of making popular the knowledge which is 
now almost restricted to medical men, or, at most, 
to the well-educated classes." 

I think it right to premise, that in all the pre- 
scriptions I have given for the use of mothers, I 
have endeavored to make them as simple as pos- 
sible, and have, whenever practicable, avoided rec- 
ommending powerful drugs. Complicated pre- 
scriptions and powerful medicines ought to be 
seldom given, and when they are, should only be 
administered by a judicious doctor. A child 
requires much more care and gentleness in his 
treatment than an adult; indeed, I often think it 
would be better to leave a child to nature rather 
than to give him powerful and large doses of 
medicine. 

Water on the brain is, as a rule, a disease of 
childhood ; after a child is seven years old it is 
comparatively rare. It more frequently attacks 
delicate children — children who have been dry- 
nursed (especially if they have been improperly 
fed), or have been nursed too long, or have had 
consumptive mothers, or have suffered severely 
from teething, or are naturally of a feeble consti 
tution. Water on the brain sometimes follows an 
attack of inflammation ol the lungs, more espe- 



400 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

cially if depressing measures have been adopted. 
It occasionally follows in the train of contagious 
eruptive diseases, such as either small-pox or 
scarlatina. We may divide the symptoms of water 
on the brain into two stages. The first — the pre- 
monitory stage — which lasts four or five days, in 
which medical aid might, be of great avail ; the 
second the stage of drowsiness and of coma — 
which usually ends in death. 

I shall dwell on the first— the premonitory stage 
— in order that a mother may see the importance 
of calling in a doctor without loss of time. 

If her child is feverish and irritable, if his 
stomach is disordered, if he has ui'gent vomitings, 
or a foul breath, if his appetite is capricious and 
bad, if his nights are disturbed (screaming out in 
his sleep), if his bowels are disordered, more 
especially if they are constipated, if he is more 
than usually excited, if his eyes gleam with un- 
usual brilliancy, if his tongue runs faster than it is 
wont, if his cheek is flushed and his head hot, and 
if he is constantly putting his hand to his head; 
there is cause for suspicion. If to these symptoms 
is added, a more than usual carelessness in tumb- 
ling about, in hitching his foot in the carpet, or in 
dragging one foot after the other; if he lias com- 
plained of darting, shooting, lancinating pains in 
his head, it may then be known that the first stage 
of inflammation (the forerunner of water on the 
brain) either has or is about taking place. No 
time ought to be lost in obtaining medical aid; 



CROUP — SYMPTOMS. 401 

for the commencement of the disease is the golden 
opportunity, when life might probably be saved. 

Croup. — It is unusual for a child until he is 
twelve months old to have the croup ; but from 
that time until the age of two years, he is more 
liable to it than at any other period. The liability 
after two years, gradually lessens until he is ten 
years old, after which time it is rare. 

A child is more liable to croup in a low and 
damp, than in a high and dry neighborhood ; in- 
deed, in some situations, croup is almost an 
unknown disease ; while in others it is only too 
well understood. 

There is no disease that requires more prompt 
treatment than croup, and none that creeps on 
more insidiously. The child at first seems to be 
laboring under a slight cold, and is troubled with 
a little dry cough ; he is hot and fretful, and hoarse 
when he cries. Hoarseness is one of the earliest 
symptoms of croup, and it should be borne in 
mind that a young child, unless he is going to 
have the croup, is seldom hoarse. If your child 
is hoarse, he should be carefully watched, in order 
that not a moment be lost in applying the proper 
remedies as soon as croup is detected. 

His voice at length becomes gruff, he breathes 
as though it were through muslin, and the cough 
becomes crowing. These three symptoms prove 
that the disease is now fully formed. These latter 
symptoms sometimes come on without any pre- 
vious warning, the little fellow going to bed ap- 
26 



402 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

parently well, until the mother is awakened, 
perplexed and frightened, in the middle of the 
night, by finding him laboring under the char- 
acteristic cough and the other symptoms of croup. 
If she delays to send for assistance, or if proper 
medicines are not instantly given, in a few hours it 
will probably be of no avail, and in a day or 
two the little sufferer will be a corpse. 

When once a child has had croup the after 
attacks are generally milder. If he has once had 
an attack of croup, I should advise you always to 
have in the house a four-ounce bottle of Wine of 
Ipecac, to fly to at a moment's notice, but never 
omit, where practicable, in a case of croup, to send 
immediately for medical aid. There is no disease 
in which time is more precious than in croup, and 
where the delay of an hour may decide either for 
life or for death. 

But suppose a doctor is not immediately to be 
procured, what then am I to do ? more especially, 
as you say, that delay might be death ? 

What to do. — I never, in my life, lost a child 
with croup — with catarrhal-croup — where I was 
called in at the commencement of the disease, and 
where my plans were carried out to the very let- 
ter. Let me begin by saying, look well to the 
goodness and purity of the medicine, for the life 
of your child may depend upon the medicine 
being genuine. What medicine? Wine of Ipecac. 
At the earliest dawn of the disease give a tea- 
spoonful of Wine of Ipecac every five minutes, 



CROUP — TREATMENT. 403 

until free vomiting is excited. In croup, then, 
before he is safe, free vomiting must be established, 
and that without loss of time. If, after the expi- 
ration of an hour, the Wine of Ipecac (having given 
during that hour one or two teaspoonfuls of it 
every five minutes) is not sufficiently powerful for 
the purpose, let the following mixture be sub- 
stituted : 

Take of — Powdered Ipecac, one scruple; 

Wine of Ipecac, one ounce and a half. 
Make a mixture. One or two teaspoonfuls to be given every five 
minutes, first well shaking the bottle, until free vomiting is excited. 

After the vomiting, place the child for a quar- 
ter of an hour in a warm bath.* When out of the 
bath give him small doses of Wine of Ipecac every 
two or three hours. The following is a palatable 
form of the mixture: 

Take of — Wine of Ipecac, three drams; 
Simple syrup, three drams; 
Water, six drams. 
Make a mixture. A teaspoonful to be taken every two or three 
hours. 

But remember, the emetic which is given at 
first is pure Wine of Ipecac without a drop of either 
water or syrup. % 

A large sponge dipped out of very hot water, 
and applied to the throat, and frequently renewed, 
oftentimes affords great relief in croup, and ought 
to be adopted in all cases during the time the 
emetic is being administered. 

*See " Warm Baths " — directions and precautions to be observed. 



404 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Another very convenient and unfailing remedy 
for croup is found in the following prescription ; 
One teaspoonful of powdered alum, mix it either 
with a teaspoonful of honey or a tablespoonful of 
molasses. If vomiting does not follow in fifteen 
minutes repeat the dose. In case of membranous 
croup, the membrane can be seen floating in any 
containing vessel on top of water. The remedy 
is an invaluable one, and devoid of any danger to 
the child if often repeated. One or two doses, 
however, is usually all that is needed to break up 
any case of croup. 

Keep the child from all stimulants; let him 
live on a low diet, such as milk and water, toast 
and water, arrowroot, etc.; and keep the room, if 
practicable, at a temperate heat — 6o° Fahrenheit 
— and well ventilated. 

The treatment of croup is very simple, and the 
plan may be carried out by any intelligent mother. 
Notwithstanding this, it is your duty, where 
practicable, to send for a physician at the very 
onset of the disease. 

Let me again reiterate that, if your child is to 
be saved, the Wine of Ipecac must be genuine and 
good. This can only be effected by having the 
medicine from a highly reliable druggist. If your 
child has ever had croup, let me again urge you 
always to have in the house a four ounce bottle of 
Wine of Ipecac, that you may resort to at a 
moment's notice, in case there is the slightest 
return of the disease. 



CROUP — WHAT NOT TO DO. 405 

Wine of Ipecac, unfortunately, is not a medi- 
cine that keeps well ; therefore, every three or 
fo,ur months a fresh bottle ought to be procured, 
either from a doctor or a druggist. As long as 
the Wine of Ipecac remains clear, it is good ; but 
as soon as it becomes turbid, it is bad, and ought 
to be replaced by a fresh supply. 

What not to do. — Do not give emetic tartar ; do 
not keep the room very warm ; do not give stim- 
ulants ; do not omit to have always in the house a 
bottle of Wine of Ipecac. 

Child-crowing, or spurious croup, as it is some- 
times called, is occasionally mistaken for genuine 
croup. It is a more frequent disorder than the 
latter, and requires a different plan of treatment. 
Child-crowing is a disease that invariably occurs 
only during dentition, and is most perilous; indeed, 
painful dentition is the cause — the only cause — of 
child-crowing. But, if a child laboring under it 
can fortunately escape suffocation until he has cut 
the whole of his first set of teeth, he is then safe. 

Child-crowing comes on in paroxysms. The 
breathing during the intervals is quite natural — 
indeed, the child appears perfectly well ; hence, 
the dangerous nature of the disease is either over- 
looked, or is lightly thought of, until perhaps a 
paroxysm worse than common takes place, and the 
little patient dies of suffocation ; overwhelming 
the mother with terror, confusion and dismay. 

In a paroxysm of child-crowing the symptoms 
are as follows : The child suddenly loses and 



406 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

fights for his breath, and in doing so, makes a 
noise very much like that of crowing ; hence the 
name of child-crowing. The face during tke 
paroxysm becomes bluish or livid. In a favorable 
case, after a frightful struggle to breathe, he re- 
gains his breath, and is perfectly well until another 
paroxysm occurs. In an unfavorable case, the up- 
per part of the windpipe — the glottis — remains for 
a minute or two closed, and the child, not being 
able to breathe, drops, a corpse, in his nurse's 
arms. Many children, who are said to have died 
of fits, have really died of child-crowing. 

The disease is very apt to cause convulsions, 

which complication adds very much to the danger. 

Such a complication requires the constant 

supervision of an experienced and skillful doctor. 

I have entered thus rather fully into the subject, 
as nearly every life might be saved, if a mother 
knew the nature and the treatment of the com- 
plaint, and of the great necessity during the paroxysm 
of prompt and proper measures. For, too frequently, 
before a doctor has had time to arrive, the child - 
has breathed his last, the parent herself being per- 
fectly ignorant of the necessary treatment ; hence 
the vital importance of the subject, and the para- 
mount necessity of imparting such information. 

Treatment. — Have a plentiful supply of cold and 
hot water always at hand, ready at a moment's no- 
tice for use. The instant the paroxysm is upon 
the child, plentifully and perseveringly dash cold 
water upon his head and face. Put his feet and 



CHILD-CROWING — TREATMENT. 407 

legs in hot salt, mustard and water, and, if neces- 
sary, place him up to his neck in a hot bath, still 
dashing water upon his face and head If he does 
not quickly come round, sharply slas his back and 
thighs. 

In every severe paroxysm of child-crowing, put 
your forefinger down the throat of the child, and 
pull his tongue forward. This plan of pulling the 
tongue forward opens the epiglottis (the lid of the 
glottis), admits air into the lungs, and thus staves 
off impending suffocation. If this plan were gen- 
erally known and adopted, many precious lives 
might be saved. 

There is nothing more frightfully agonizing to a 
mother's feelings than to see her child strangled, — 
as it were, — before her eyes, by a paroxysm of 
child-crowing. As soon as a doctor arrives, he 
will lose no time in thoroughly lancing the gums, 
and in ' applying other appropriate remedies. 
Great care and attention ought to be paid to his 
diet. If the child is breathing a smoky, close at- 
mosphere, he should be immediately removed to a 
pure one. In this disease there is no remedy 
equal to a change of air — to a dry, bracing neigh- 
borhood. Change of air, even if it is winter, 
either to the coast or to a healthy mountainous 
district, is the best remedy. Where it is not prac- 
ticable to send a child from home, let him be sent 
out of doors the greater part of every day ; let 
him almost live in the open air. I am quite sure, 
from an extensive experience, that fresh .air and 



408 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

plenty of it, is the best and principal remedy. 
Cold sponging oi the body too, is useful. 

As the subject is so important, let me recapit- 
ulate ; the gums ought to be well lanced, in order to 
remove the irritation of painful dentition — painful 
dentition being the real cause of the disease — cold 
sponging should be used twice or three times 
daily. The diet should be carefully attended to 
(see Dietary of Child); and everything conducive 
to health should be observed. But, remember 
after all that can be said about the treatment, 
there is nothing like change of air, fresh air, cold, 
dry pure air, and plenty of it. The more the 
little fellow can inhale, during the day, the better 
it will be for him ; it will be far better than any 
drug contained in the Pharmacopoeia. 

I have dwelt on this subject at some length, as 
nearly every child laboring under this complaint 
would be saved if the above advice were more 
generally known and followed ; while now, as 
coroner's inquests abundantly testify, the disease 
carries off yearly an immense number of victims. 

Inflammation of the lungs.- — If the child has had 
a. shivering fit ; if his skin is very hot and dry, if 
his lips are parched, if there is great thirst, if his 
cheeks are flushed, and he is dull and heavy, wish- 
ing to be quiet in his cot or crib ; his appetite 
diminished, his tongue furred, his mouth burning 
hot and dry,* his urine scanty and high-colored, 

*If you put your finger into the mouth of a child laboring under 
inflammation of the lungs, it is like putting your finger into a hot apple 
pie, the heat is so great. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 409 

staining the napkin or the linen ; his breathing short, 
panting, hurried and oppressed, with a hard dry cough, 
and if his skin is burning hot; — then there is no doubt 
that inflammation of the lungs has taken place. 

No time should be lost in sending for medical 
aid ; indeed, the hot, dry mouth and skin, and short, 
hurried breathing, would be sufficient cause for your 
procuring immediate assistance. If inflammation 
of the lungs were properly treated at the onset, a 
child would scarcely ever be lost by that disease. 
I say this advisedly, for in my own practice, pro- 
viding I am called in early, and my plans are strictly 
carried out , I scarcely ever lose a child from in- 
flammation of the lungs, You may ask, — What 
are your plans ? I will tell you in case you cannot 
promply obtain medical advice, as delay might be 
death. 

Treatment. — Keep the child to one room, to his 
bedroom, and to his bed. Let the chamber be 
properly ventilated. If the weather is cool, build 
a small fire in the grate ; otherwise he is better 
Avithout a fire. Let him live on low diet, such as 
weak black tea, milk and water (in equal quanti- 
ties), and toast and water, thin oatmeal gruel, 
arrowroot, and such like simple beverages, and 
give him the following mixture : 

Take of — Wine of Ipecac, three drams; 
Simple Syrup, three drams; 
Water, six drams. 
Make a mixture. — A teaspoonful of the mixture to be taken every 
four hours. 



4IO CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Be careful that you go to a reliable druggist in 
order that the quality of the Wine of Ipecac may be 
good, as the child's life may depend upon it. 

If the medicine produces sickness, so much the 
better ; continue it regularly until the short, op- 
pressed and hurried breathing has subsided, and 
has become natural. 

If the attack is very severe, in addition to the 
above medicine at once apply a blister, not the 
common blister, but D" Albespeyres Vesicatoria — a 
quarter of a sheet. If the child is a year old, the 
blister ought to be kept on for three hours, and 
then a piece of dry, soft linen should be applied 
for another three hours, at the end of which 
time — six hours — there will be a beautiful blister, 
which must be cut with a pair of scissors to let 
out the water ; and then let the blister be dressed 
night and morning with simple cerate spread on 
lint. 

If the little patient is more than one year, say two 
years old, let the Vesicatoria remain on for five 
hours, and the dry linen for five hours more, be- 
fore the blister is cut and dressed. If in a day or 
two the inflammation still continues violent, let 
another Vesicatoria be applied, not over the old 
blister, but let a narrow strip of it be applied on 
each side of the old blister, and managed in the 
same manner as before directed. 

I cannot speak too highly of U Alb esp eyre' s Vesi- 
catoria. It has in my hands, through God's bless- 
ing, saved the lives of scores of children. It is 



INFLAMMATION — TREATMENT. 4II 

far, very far, superior to the old-fashioned blis- 
tering plaster. It seldom, if the above rules are 
strictly observed, fails to rise; it gives much less 
pain than the common blister ; when it has had 
the desired effect, it readily heals, which cannot 
always be said of the common fly blister, more 
especially with children. 

My sheet anchors, in inflammation of the lungs 
of children are, Wine of Ipecac and U Albespeyre s 
Vesicatoria. Let the greatest care be observed in 
obtaining genuine and good Wine of Ipecac. 
This can be only depended upon by having the 
medicine from a good reliable druggist. Wine of 
Ipecac, when genuine and good, is, in many chil- 
dren's diseases, one of the most valuable of 
medicines. 

What NOT to do. — Avoid — emphatically let me say 
so — giving emetic tartar. It is one of the most 
lowering and death-dealing medicines that can be 
administered to an infant or to a child. If you 
wish to try the effect of it, take a dose yourself, 
and I am quite sure that you will then never be 
inclined to poison a child with any such abomi- 
nable preparation. In olden times — many, many 
years ago — I gave it in inflammation of the lungs, 
and lost many children. Since leaving it off, the 
recoveries of patients by the Ipecac treatment, 
combined with the external application of D 'Al- 
bespeyre's Vesicatoria, have been in many cases 
marvelous. Avoid broths and wine, and all stimu- 
lants. Do not put the child into a warm bath ; 



412 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

it only oppresses the already oppressed breathing-. 
After he is out of the bath, it causes a larger 
quantity of blood to rush back to the lungs and 
to the bronchial tubes, and thus feeds the inflam- 
mation. Do not keep the temperature of the 
room high. A small fire, in the winter time, en- 
courages ventilation, and in such a case does good. 
When the little patient is on the mother's lap, do 
not burden him with a heavy blanket or a thick 
shawl. Either a thin child's blanket, or a thin 
woolen shawl, in addition to his usual nightgown, 
is all the clothing necessary. 

Bronchitis is a much more frequent disease than 
inflammation of the lungs; indeed, it is one of the 
most common complaints both of infants and of 
children, while inflammation of the lungs is com- 
paratively a rare disease. Bronchitis is not nearly 
such a dangerous disease as inflammation of the 
lungs. 

The symptoms. — The child for the first few days 
labors under symptoms of a heavy cold ; he has 
not his usual spirits. In two or three days, in- 
stead of the cold leaving him, it becomes more 
confirmed ; he is now really sick, fretful, and 
feverish ; his breathing becomes rather hurried 
and oppressed ; his cough is hard, dry and loud ; 
he wheezes, and if you put your ear to his naked 
back, between his shoulder blades, you will hear 
the wheezing more distinctly. If at the breast, he 
does not nurse with his usual avidity ; the cough, 
notwithstanding the breast is a great comfort to 



BRONCHITIS — TREATMENT. 413 

him, compels him frequently to loose the nipple ; 
his urine is scanty and rather high colored, stain- 
ing the napkin, and smelling strongly. He is gen- 
erally worse at night. 

Remember, if the child is feverish, if he has 
symptoms of a heavy cold, if he has an oppression 
of breathing, if he wheezes and has a tight, dry, 
noisy cough, you may be satisfied that he has an 
attack of bronchitis. 

In bronchitis the skin is warm but moist ; in in- 
flammation of the lungs it is hot and dry ; in bron- 
chitis the mouth is warmer than usual, but moist; 
in inflammation of the lungs it is burning hot ; in 
bronchitis the breathing is rather hurried, and at- 
tended with wheezing ; in inflammation of the lungs 
it is very short and panting, and is unaccompanied 
with wheezing, although occasionally a very slight 
crackling sound may be heard ; in bronchitis the 
cough is long and noisy ; in inflammation of the 
lungs it is short and feeble ; in bronchitis the child 
is cross and fretful ; in inflammation of the lungs 
he is dull and heavy, and his countenance denotes 
distress. 

We have sometimes a combination of bronchitis 
and of inflammation of the lungs, an attack of the 
latter following the former. Then the symptoms 
will be modified, and will partake of the character 
of the two diseases. 

Treatment. — Confine the child to his bedroom, 
and if very ill, to his bed. If it is winter, have a 
little fire in the grate, but be sure that the temper- 



414 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

ature of the chamber is not above 6o° Fahrenheit, 
and let the room be properly ventilated, which 
may be effected by occasionally leaving the door 
a little ajar. 

Place him outside the bed or on a sofa ; if he is 
very ill, inside the bed, with a sheet and a blanket 
only to cover him, but no thick coverlid. If he is 
allowed to lie on the lap, it only heats and makes 
him restless. If he will not lie on the bed, let him 
rest on a pillow placed on the lap ; the pillow will 
cause him to lie cooler, and will more comfortably 
rest his wearied body. If he is at the breast, 
keep him to it, and give no artificial food, unless a 
little toast and water if he is thirsty. If he is 
weaned, let him have either milk and water, toast 
and water, barley water, or weak black tea, with 
plenty of new milk in it, etc., but, until the inflam- 
mation has subsided, neither broth nor beef tea. 

In mild cases but little medicine is needed. 
When the fever comes on in the after part of the 
day, it is well to give a mild febrifuge, as follows: 

Take of^— Potas Citrate, one dram; 

Syrup of Ipecac, one dram; 
Paregoric, one dram; 
Rock Candy, two ounces; 
Water (hot), three ounces. 
The dose for a child two to four years old, would be a teaspoonful 
every two or three hours, till the child sleeps. 

A good medicine is Wine of Ipecac, given in 
large doses, so as to produce constant nausea. 
The Wine of Ipecac abates fever, acts on the skin, 



BRONCHITIS — TREATMENT. 415 

loosens the cough, and, in the majority of cases, 
will rapidly effect a cure. I have in a preceding 
paragraph given you a prescription for the Wine 
of Ipecac Mixture. A teaspoonful of the mixture 
should be taken every four hours. 

If in a day or two he is no better, but worse, by 
all means continue the mixture, whether it pro- 
duces sickness or otherwise, and put on the chest 
a Vesicatoria, a quarter of a sheet. 

The Wine of Ipecac and the Vesicatoria are 
my sheet anchors in the bronchitis, both of infants 
and of children. They rarely, even in very severe 
cases, fail to effect a cure, providing the Vesicatoria 
is properly applied, and the Wine of Ipecac is 
genuine and of good quality. 

If there is any difficulty in procuring good Wine 
of Ipecac, the ipecac may be given in powder in- 
stead of the wine. The following is a pleasant 
form : 

Take of — Powder of Ipecac, twelve grains; 

Powdered White Sugar, thirty-six grains. 
Mix well together, and divide into twelve powders. One of the 
powders to be put dry on the tongue every four hours. 

The ipecac powder will keep better than the 
wine — an important consideration to those living 
in country places ; nevertheless, if the wine can 
be procured fresh and good, I far prefer the wine 
to the powder. 

When the bronchitis has disappeared, the diet 
ought gradually to be improved — rice, sago, 
tapioca, light batter-pudding, etc., and, in a few 



416 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

days, either a little chicken or a mutton chop, 
mixed with a well-mashed potato and crumb of 
bread, should be given, But let the improvement 
in his diet be gradual, or the inflammation may 
return. 

What NOT to do. — Do not give either emetic 
tartar or antimonial wine, which is emetic tartar 
dissolved in wine. Do not administer either pare- 
goric or syrup of poppies, either of which would 
stop the cough, and would thus prevent the expul- 
sion of the phlegm. Any fool can stop a cough, 
but it requires a wise man to rectify the mischief. 
A cough is an effort of Nature to bring up the 
phlegm, which would otherwise accumulate, and 
in the end cause death. Again, let me urge upon 
you the immense importance of not stopping the 
cough of a child. The Wine of Ipecac will loosen 
the cough by loosening the phlegm, which is the 
only right way to get rid of a cough. Let what 
I have now said be impressed deeply upon your 
memory, as thousands of children are annually 
destroyed by having their coughs stopped. Avoid 
giving him broths, meat, and stimulants of all 
kinds, until the bronchitis is relieved. For further 
observation on what NOT to do in bronchitis, I beg 
to refer you to a previous paragraph on what 
NOT to do in inflammation of the lungs. That which 
is injurious in the one case is equally so in the 
other. 

Diphtheria. — This terrible disease, although by 
many considered a new complaint, is of very ancient 
origin. 



DIPHTHERIA — SYMPTOMS. 417 

The symptoms.— -The little patient, before the dis- 
ease really shows itself, feels poorly, and is out of 
sorts. A shivering fit, though not severe, may 
generally be noticed. There is heaviness, and slight 
headache, principally over the eyes. Sometimes, 
but not always, there is a mild attack of delirium 
at night. The next day he complains of slight dif- 
ficulty of swallowing. If old enough, he will com- 
plain of constriction about the throat. On 
examining the throat the tonsils will be found to be 
swollen and more red than usual. Slight specks 
will be noticed on the tonsils. In a day or two an 
exudation will cover them, the back of the palate, 
the tongue, and sometimes the inside of the cheeks 
and the nostrils. This exudation of lymph grad- 
ually increases until it becomes a regular mem- 
brane, which puts on the appearance of leather, 
hence its name diphtheria. This membrane peels 
off in pieces, and if the child is old and strong 
enough he will sometimes spit it up in quantities, 
the membrane again and again rapidly forming as 
before. The discharges from the throat are occa- 
sionally, but not always, offensive. There is 
danger of croup from the extension of the mem- 
brane into the windpipe. The glands about the 
neck and under the jaw are generally much 
swollen, and the skin is rather cold and clammy ; 
the urine is scanty and usually pale ; the bowels 
at first are frequently relaxed. The diarrhoea may 
or may not cease as the disease advances. 

The child is now in a perilous condition, and it 
27 



41 8 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

becomes a battle between his constitution and the 
disease. If, unfortunately, as is too often the 
case — diphtheria being more likely to attack the 
weakly — the child is very delicate, there is but 
slight hope of recovery. The danger of the dis- 
ease is not always to be measured by the state of 
the throat. Sometimes when the patient appears 
to be getting well, a sudden change for the worse 
rapidly carries him off. Hence the importance of 
great caution, in such cases, in giving an opinion 
as to ultimate recovery. I have said enough to 
prove the terrible nature of the disease, and to 
show the necessity of calling in, at the earliest 
period of the symptoms, an experienced and skill- 
ful doctor. 

Diphtheria is contagious, therefore, when prac- 
ticable, the rest of the children ought instantly to 
be removed to a distance. I say children, for it is 
emphatically a disease of childhood. When adults 
have it, it is the exception and not the rule. 

The causes of diphtheria are bad and imperfect 
drainage ; want of ventilation ; overflowing privies ; 
low neighborhoods in the vicinity of rivers ; stag- 
nant waters, indeed, everything that vitiates the 
air, and thus depresses the system, more especially 
if the weather is close and muggy ; poor and im- 
proper food ; and last, though not least, contagion. 
Bear in mind, too, that a delicate child is much 
more predisposed to the disease than a strong one. 

What to do. — Examine well into the ventilation, 
for as diphtheria is frequently caused by deficient 



DIPHTHERIA — TREATMENT. 419 

ventilation, the best remedy is thorough ventila- 
tion. Look well to the drains and the privies, and 
see that the drains from the water-closets and the 
privies do not in any way contaminate the well 
water. If the drains are defective or the privies 
full, the disease in your child will be generated, 
fed, and fostered. Not only so, but the disease 
will spread in your family all around you. 

Keep the child to his bedroom and to his bed. 
For the first two or three days, while the fever 
runs high, put him on a low diet, such as milk, tea, 
arrowroot, etc. Apply to his throat, every four 
hours, a warm bran and oatmeal poultice. If he is 
old enough to have the knowledge to use a gargle, 
the following will be found serviceable : 

Take of — Permanganate of Potash, pure, four grains; 
Water, eight ounces. 
To make a gargle. 

Or, 

Take of — Bromo Chloralum, two drams; 
Glycerine, one ounce; 
Water, three ounces. 
Make a gargle and use it freely two or three hours apart. 

Another remedy is: 

Take of — Carbolic Acid, forty drops; 
Glycerine, one half ounce; 
Water, one half ounce. 
Mix, and apply with a soft swab three times a day. 

The best medicine for the first few days of the 
attack is the following mixture : 

Take of — Compound Tinct. Cinchona, two ounces, 
Potas Chlorate, two drams. 



420 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Make a mixture. — Dose for a child four years old, a teaspoonful 
every four hours. 

Or, chlorate of potash may be given in the form 
of powder ; 

Take of — Chlorate of Potash, two scruples; 
Lump Sugar, one dram. 
Mix, and divide into eight powders. One to be put into a dry 
teaspoon and then placed on the tongue every three hours. These 
powders are very useful in diphtheria ; they are very cleansing to the 
tongue and throat. If they produce much smarting, as where the 
mouth is very sore they sometimes do, let the patient, after taking one, 
drink plenty of milk; indeed, I have known these powders induce a 
patient to take nourishment, in the form of milk, which he otherwise 
would not have done, and thus to have saved him from dying of 
starvation, which, before taking the powders, there was every proba- 
bility of his doing. An extensive experience has demonstrated to me 
the great value of these powders in diphtheria; but they must be put 
on the tongue dry. 

As soon as the skin has lost its preternatural 
heat, beef tea and chicken broth ought to be given. 
Or if great prostration should supervene, in addi- 
tion to the beef tea, port wine, a tablespoonful 
every four hours, should be administered. If the, 
child is cold, and there is great sinking of the 
vital powers, brandy and water should be substi- 
tuted 'for the port wine. Remember, in ordinary 
cases, port wine and brandy are not necessary ; 
but in cases of extreme exhaustion they are most 
valuable. 

As soon as the great heat of the skin has abated 
and the debility has set in, one of the following 
mixtures will be found useful : 

Take of — Wine of Iron, one ounce and a half ; 
Simple Syrup, one ounce; 
Water, three ounces and a half. 



DIPHTHERIA — TREATMENT. 42 1 

To make a mixture — A tablespoonful to be taken every four 
hours. 

Or, 

Take of — Tincture of Perchloride of Iron, one dram; 
Simple Syrup, one ounce; 
Water, three ounces. 
To make a mixture. — A tablespoonful to be taken three times a 
day. 

If the disease should travel downward, it will 
cause all the symptoms of croup ; then it must be 
treated as croup ; with only this difference, that a 
blister must not be applied, or the blistered surface 
may be attacked by the membrane of diphtheria, 
which may either cause death or hasten that catas- 
trophe. In every other respect treat the case as 
croup, by giving an emetic, a teaspoonful of Wine 
of Ipecac every five minutes, until free vomiting 
is excited, and then administer smaller doses of 
Wine of Ipecac every two or three hours, as I 
recommended in the treatment of croup. 

The following simple remedies have recently 
been highly recommended : 

"Put a teaspoonful of sulphur into a wine glass 
of water and stir it with the finger instead of a 
spoon, as the sulphur does not readily amalgamate 
with water. When the sulphur is well mixed, 
then it is to be given to the patient to gargle, and 
after gargling to swallow it, and the patient will 
be out of danger in ten minutes. When the 
fungus is too nearly closing to allow the gargling, 
the sulphur, in that case, should be blown through 
a quill into the throat, and after the fungus has 



422 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

shrunk to allow of it, then the gargling. If a 
patient cannot gargle, take a live coal, put it on 
a shovel, and sprinkle a spoonful of flour of 
brimstone upon it ; let the sufferer inhale it by 
holding the head over it, and the fungus will die. 
Sulphur kills every species of fungus in man, 
beast and plant in a few minutes. Recently at 
Princess Mary's Cottage Home, London, an out- 
break of diphtheria attacked fifty of the inmates. 
One of the lady nurses cured them all by causing 
the patients to gargle with sulphur and swallow 
the gargle." Or, "Take ten grains of perman- 
ganate of potassium and mix with one ounce of 
cold water. As soon as dissolved it must be ap- 
plied with a rag or sponge, mop or swab, to the 
whitish places in the tonsils and other parts that 
have the diphtheria membrane on. Do this very 
gently, but thoroughly, every three hours until 
better ; then every six hours until well. It does 
not give pain, but is rather nauseous to the taste. 
If the tongue is coated white, I mix one dram 
of hyposulphite of soda and five drops of oil of 
sassafras in four ounces of syrup made of sugar 
and hot water, and give a teaspoonful every one 
to three hours as needed, when awake. If the 
tongue is not coated white, I mix twenty drops of 
tincture of phytolacca to four ounces of cold 
water, and give a teaspoonful every one to three 
hours, as needed, when awake. The phytolacca 
is the common poke-root of the South, and, as it 
loses its strength by drying and age, the tincture 



DIPHTHERIA — WHAT NOT TO DO. 423 

should be from the fresh root, or it is worthless." 
It is well to apply a little sweet oil or cosmoline 
to the outside of the throat to protect it from the 
action of the air, as the patient must be protected 
from all danger of getting- chilled. 

In the beginning of the disease, in mild cases, 
the above solution of permanganate of potassium 
is all that is needed, as the disease is local at first, 
but it rapidly affects the whole system when 
seated. In the stinking form of diphtheria this 
solution soon destroys the smeU, and in every case 
it destroys the diphtheria membrane without leav- 
ing any bad effect behind. 

What not to do. — Do not on any account apply a 
blister. If the latter is applied, it is almost sure 
to be covered with the membrane of diphtheria, 
similar to the inside of the mouth and of the throat, 
which would be a serious complication. Do not 
give emetic tartar. Do not depress the system by 
aperients, for diphtheria is an awfully depressing 
complaint of itself ; the patient is laboring under 
the depressing effects of poison, for the blood has 
been poisoned either by the drinking water being 
contaminated by faecal matter from either a privy 
or a water-closet ; by some horrid drain ; by prox- 
imity to a pig-sty ; by an overflowing privy, 
especially if vegetable matte** ' t ng at the 

same time in it ; by bad ventilation, or by con- 
tagion. Diphtheria may generally be traced to 
one or the other of the above causes ; therefore 
let me urgently entreat you to look well into these 



424 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

matters, and thus to stay the pestilence. Diph- 
theria might long remain in a neighborhood if 
active measures were not taken to exterminate it. 

Measles commences with symptoms of a com- 
mon cold; the patient is at first chilly, then hot 
and feverish ; he has a running at the nose, 
sneezing, watering, and redness of the eyes, head- 
ache, drowsiness, a hoarse and peculiar ringing 
cough, which nurses call " measle-cough," and 
difficulty of breathing. These symptoms usually 
last three days ; on the fourth the eruption gener- 
ally makes its appearance, and continues for four 
days and then disappears, lasting altogether from 
the commencement of the s} T mptomsof cold to the 
decline of the eruption, seven days. It is im- 
portant to bear in mind that the eruption consists 
of crescent-shaped patches; that they usually appear 
first about the face and neck, in which places they 
are the best marked ; then on the body and on the 
arms; and, lastly on the legs, and that they are 
slightly raised above the surface of the skin. The 
face is swollen, more especially the eyelids, which 
are sometimes closed for a few days. 

Remember, running at the nose, sneezing, a pecu- 
liar hoarse cough, and ha If -moon-shaped patches, are 
the leading features of the disease, and point out 
for a certainty that it is measles. 

The principal danger in measles arises from the 
affection of the chest. The mucus or lining mem- 
brane of the bronchial tubes is always more or less 
inflamed, and the lungs are sometimes affected. 



MEASLES — TREATMENT. 425 

The only way to throw out the eruption, is to 
keep the body comfortably warm, and to give the 
beverages ordered by the doctor, with the chill 
off. Surfeit water, saffron tea, and remedies of 
that class, are hot and stimulating. The only effect 
they can have will be to increase the fever and 
inflammation — to add fuel to the fire. 

What to do. — The child ought to be confined to 
his bed, and the room kept comfortably warm. If 
it is winter time, there should be a small fire in the 
room ; in the summer time the fire would be im- 
proper. The child must not be exposed to 
draughts; though from time to time, the door 
ought to be left a little ajar in order to change the 
air of the apartment ; for proper ventilation, let 
the disease be what it may, is absolutely necessary. 
Keep the child, for the first few days, on a low 
diet, such as milk and water, arrowroot, bread 
and butter, etc. 

If the attack is mild, that is, if the breathing is 
not much affected, and there is not much wheezing, 
the Acidulated Infusion of Roses' Mixture* will 
be all that is necessary. 

In case the breathing is short, and there is a 
great wheezing, instead of giving the mixture 
just advised, give a teaspoonful of a mixture com- 
posed of Wine of Ipecac, Syrup and Water,f 
every four hours. If on the following day, the 
breathing is not relieved, in addition to the Ipecac 

*See page 403. fSee page 432. 



426 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Mixture, apply a Vesicatoria, as advised under the 
head of Inflammation of the Lungs. 

When the child is convalescing, batter pud- 
dings, rice and sago puddings, in addition to the 
milk, bread and butter, etc., should be given ; and, 
a few days later, chicken, mutton chops, etc., etc. 
The child ought not, even in a mild case of measles, 
and in favorable weather, to be allozved to leave the 
house under two weeks, or it might bring on an attack 
of bronchitis. 

What NOT to do. — Do not give either surfeit 
water or wine. Do not apply leeches to the chest, 
Do not expose the child to the cold air. Do not 
keep the bedroom very hot, but comfortably 
warm. Do not let the child leave the house, even 
under favorable circumstances under two weeks. 
Do not, while the eruption is out, give aperients. 
Do not administer emetic tartar or paregoric to 
ease the cough — the former drug is very depres- 
sing ; the latter will stop the cough, and will thus 
prevent the expulsion of the phlegm. 

Scarlatina and scarlet fever are indeed one and 
the same disease, scarlatina being the Latin for 
scarlet fever. But, in a popular sense, when the 
disease is mild, it is usually called scarlatina. The 
latter term does not sound so formidable to the 
ears either of patients or parents. 

Symptoms of scarlet fever. — The patient is gen- 
erally chilly, languid, drowsy, feverish and poorly 
for two days before the eruption appears. At the 
end of the second, the characteristic bright scar- 



SCARLET FEVER — SYMPTOMS. 427 

let efflorescence, somewhat similar to the color of 
a boilecl lobster, usually first shows itself. The 
scarlet appearance is not confined to the skin, but. 
the tongue, throat and whites of the eyes put on 
the same appearance; with only this difference, 
that on the tongue and on the throat the scarlet is 
much darker, and, as Dr. Elliotson accurately de- 
scribes it, — " The tongue looks as if it had been 
slightly sprinkled with Cayenne pepper ; " the 
tongue, at other times, looks like a strawberry; 
when it does it is called the strawberry tongue. 
The eruption usually declines on the fifth, and is 
generally indistinct on the sixth day ; on the 
seventh it has completely faded away. After the 
first few days there is usually great itching on the 
surface of the body. At the end of the week the 
skin begins to peel and to dust off, making it look 
as though meal had been sprinkled upon it. 

There are three forms of scarlet fever — the one 
where the throat is little, if at all, affected, and this 
is a mild form of the disease ; the second, which 
at night is generally attended with delirium, 
where the throat is much affected, being often 
greatly inflamed and ulcerated, and the third 
(which is, except in certain unhealthy districts, 
comparatively rare, and which is VERY dangerous), 
the malignant form. 

Cooling physic ought on no account ivJiatever to be 
given. Aperient medicines are highly improper 
and dangerous both before and during the period 
of the eruption. It is my firm conviction that 



428 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

the administration of physic at such times, is one 
of the principal causes why scarlet fever is so fre- 
quently fatal. This is more applicable to the poor, 
and to those who are unable to procure a skillful 
physician. 

The principal danger in scarlet fever arises 
from the affection of the throat, the administration 
of aperients during the first ten days, and a pecu- 
liar disease of the kidneys ending in dropsy ; on 
which account, the doctor ought, when practi- 
cable, to be sent for at the onset, that no time 
may be lost in applying proper remedies. 

When scarlet fevei is complicated — as it some- 
times is — with diphtheria, the diphtheric mem- 
brane is very apt to travel into the windpipe, and 
thus to cause diphtheric croup ; it is almost sure, 
when such is the case, to end in death. When a 
child dies from such a complication, the death 
might truly be said to be owing to diphtheric 
croup, and not to scarlet fever, for if the diph- 
theric croup had not occurred, in all probability 
the child would have been saved. The deaths from 
diphtheria are generally from diphtheric croup. 

How to distinguish between scarlet fever and 
measles. — Measles commences with symptoms of a 
common cold, scarlet fever does not. Measles has 
a peculiar hoarse cough, scarlet fever has not. The 
eruption of measles is in patches of a half-moon 
shape, and is slightly raised above the skin; the 
eruption of scarlet fever is not raised above the 
skin at all, and is one continued mass. The color 



SCARLET FEVER — TREATMENT. 429 

of the eruption is much more vivid in scarlet fever 
than in measles. The chest is the part principally 
affected in measles, and the throat in scarlet fever. 

There is an excellent method of determining, 
for a certainty, whether the eruption is that of 
scarlatina or otherwise. I have in several in- 
stances ascertained the truth of it: " For several 
years M. Bouchut has remarked in the eruptions 
of scarlatina a curious phenomenon, which serves 
to distinguish this eruption from that of measles, 
erythema, erysipelas, etc., a phenomenon essen- 
tially vital, and which is connected with the ex- 
cessive contractibility of the capillaries. The 
phenomenon in question is a white line, which can 
be produced at pleasure by drawing the back of 
the nail along the skin where the eruption is situ- 
ated. On drawing the nail, or the extremity of a 
hard body (such as a penholder), along the erup- 
tion, the skin is observed to grow pale, and to 
present a white trace, which remains for one or 
two minutes, or longer, and then disappears. In 
this way the diagnosis of the disease may be very 
distinctly written on the skin ; the word ' scar- 
latina' disappears as the eruption regains its 
uniform tint." 

It is of much importance to distinguish be- 
tween scarlet fever and measles, as in measles the 
patient ought to be kept moderately warm, and the 
drinks should be given with the chill off, while in 
scarlet fever the patient ought to be kept cool and 
the beverages, such as spring water, toast and 



430 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

water, etc., should be administered quite cold, 
only one-half wine glass at once. 

What to do. — Do not fail to pay attention to my 
rules, and carry out my directions to the letter. I 
can then promise, that if the scarlet fever is neither 
malignant nor complicated with diphtheria, the plan 
I am about to advise will, with God's blessing, be 
usually successful. 

What is the first thing to be done? Send the 
child to bed ; throw open the windows, be it winter 
or summer, and have a thorough ventilation; for 
the bedroom must be kept cool, 68° to jo° Fahr- 
enheit, according to the intensity of the fever. 
Do not be afraid of fresh air, for fresh air, for the 
first few days, is essential to recovery. Fresh air, 
and plenty of it, in scarlet fever is the best doctor a 
child can have; let these words be written legibly 
on your mind. 

If the weather is either intensely cold or very 
damp, there is no objection to a small fire in the 
room, providing there is at the same time, air — an 
abundance of fresh air — admitted into the room. 
If it is summer time, let the child be covered with 
only a sheet; if it is winter time, in addition to the 
sheet, he should have one blanket over him. 

Now for the throat. The best external appli- 
cation is a bran and oatmeal poultice. Put half a 
teacupful of bran into a saucepan, put it on the 
fire to boil ; as soon as it boils, take it off the fire, 
and stir oatmeal into it, until it is of the consistence 
of a nice soft poultice ; then place it on a rag, and 



SCARLET FEVER — DIET. 43 1 

apply it to the throat ; carefully fasten it on with 
a bandage, two or three turns of the bandage 
going around the throat, and two or three over 
the crown of the head, so as nicely to apply the 
poultice where it is wanted — that is, to cover the 
tonsils. Tack the bandage ; do not pin it. Change 
the poultice three times a day. The best medicine 
is the Acidulated Infusion of Roses, sweetened 
with syrup : 

Take of — Diluted Sulphuric Acid, half a dram ; 
Simple Syrup, one ounce and a half ; 
Acid Infusion of Roses, four ounces and a half. 
To make a mixture. — A tablespoonful to be taken every four 
hours. 

It is grateful and refreshing, it is pleasant to take, 
it abates fever and thirst, it cleanses the throat and 
tongue of mucus, and is peculiarly efficacious in 
scarlet fever; as soon as the fever is abated it 
gives an appetite. My belief is that the sulphuric 
acid in the mixture is a specific in scarlet fever, 
as much as quinine is in ague, and sulphur in itch. 
I have reason to say so, for in numerous cases I 
have seen its immense value. 

Diet. — If the child is at the breast, keep him en- 
tirely to it. If he is weaned, and under two years 
of age, give him milk and water, and cold water 
to drink. If he is older give him toast and water, 
and plain water from the pump, as much as he 
chooses ; let it be quite cold — the colder the better. 
Weak black tea, or thin gruel, may be given, but 
not caring, unless an infant at the breast, if he 



432 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

takes nothing but cold water. If the child is two 
years old and upward, roasted apples with sugar 
and grapes, will be very refreshing, and will tend 
to cleanse both the mouth and the throat. Avoid 
broths and stimulants. 

When the appetite returns you may consider 
the patient safe. The diet ought now to be grad- 
ually improved. Bread and butter, milk and 
water, and arrowroot should be given for the first 
two or three days. Then a light batter or rice 
pudding may be added, and in a few days, either 
a little chicken or a mutton chop. 

The essential remedies in scarlet fever are, for 
the first few days — plenty of fresh air and venti- 
lation ; plenty of cold water to drink ; yeast or 
bran poultices to the throat, and the Acidulated In- 
fusion of Roses mixture as a medicine. 

Now comes very important advice. After the 
first few days, probably five or six, sometimes as 
early as the fourth day — watch carefully and warily, 
and note the time, the skin will suddenly become cool, 
the child will say that he feels chilly ; then is the 
time you must change your tactics — instantly close 
the windows and put extra clothing, a blanket or two, 
on his bed. A flannel nightgown should, until the 
dead skin has pulled off, be worn next the skin, 
when the flannel nightgown should be discon- 
tinued. The patient ought ever after to wear, in 
the daytime, a flannel waistcoat. His drinks must 
now be given with the chill off ; he ought to have 
a warm cup of tea, and gradually his diet should 
be improved. 



SCARLET FEVER — CATHARTICS. 433 

There is one important caution I wish to im- 
press upon you — do not give cathartics while the 
eruptioji is out. In all probability the bowels will 
be opened ; if so, well and good ; but do not, on 
any account, for the first ten days, use artificial 
means to open them. It is my firm conviction 
that the administration of purgatives in scarlet 
fever is a fruitful source of dropsy, of disease, and 
death. When we take into consideration the sym- 
pathy there is between the skin and the mucus 
membrane, I think that we should pause before 
giving irritating medicines, such as purgatives. 
The irritation of aperients on the mucus membrane 
may cause the poison of the skin disease (for scar- 
let fever is a blood-poison) to be driven internally 
to the kidneys, to the throat, to the pericardium 
(membrane containing the heart), or to the brain. 
You may say, Do you not purge if the bowels are 
not open for a week ? I say emphatically, No. 

I consider my great success in the treatment of 
scarlet fever to be partly owing to my avoidance 
of aperients during the first ten days of the child's 
illness. 

If the bowels, after the ten days, are not properly 
opened, a dose or two of syrup of senna should be 
given ; that is, one or two teaspoonfuls should be 
administered early in the morning, and should, if 
the first dose does not operate, be repeated in four 
hours. 

In a subsequent paragraph I shall strongly urge 
you not to allow your child, when convalescent, to 
28 



434 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

leave the house for at least a month from the com- 
mencement of the illness ; 1 therefore refer you to 
that paragraph, and hope that you will give it your 
best and earnest consideration. During the last 
twenty years I have never had dropsy from scarlet 
fever, and I attribute it entirely to the plan I have 
just recommended, and in not allowing my patients 
to leave the house under a month— in fact, until the 
skin that had peeled off had been renewed. 

Let me now sum up the plan I adopt, and which 
I beg leave to designate as — The Fresh Air Treat- 
ment of Scarlet Fever : 

i. Thorough ventilation, a cool room, and 
scant clothes on the bed, for the first five or six 
days. 

2. A change of temperature of the skin to be 
carefully regarded. As soon as the skin is cool, 
closing the windows, and putting additional cloth- 
ing on the bed. 

3. The Acidulated Infusion of Roses with 
Syrup is a worthy medicine for scarlet fever. 

4. Purgatives to be religiously avoided for the 
first ten days at least, and even afterward, unless 
there is absolute necessity. 

5. Leeches, blisters, emetics, cold and tepid 
spongings, and painting the tonsils with caustic, 
inadmissible in scarlet fever. 

6. A strict antiphlogistic (low) diet for the first 
few days, during which time cold water is to be 
given freely. 

The patient not to leave the house in the summer 
under a month ; in the winter, under six weeks. 



SCARLET FEVER — WHAT NOT TO DO. 435 

What not to do. — Do not apply either leeches or 
blisters to the throat ; do not paint the tonsils with 
caustic ; do not give aperients ; do not give emetic 
tartar ; do not, for the first few days of the illness, 
be afraid of cold air to the skin, and of cold water 
as a beverage ; do not, emphatically let me say, do 
not let the child leave the house for at least a 
month from the commencement of the illness. 

My firm conviction is, that purgatives, emetics 
and blisters, by depressing the patient, sometimes 
cause ordinary scarlet fever to degenerate into 
malignant scarlet fever. 

I am aware that some of our first authorities 
advocate a different plan to mine. They rec- 
ommend purgatives, which, I may say, are my 
dread and abhorrence. They advise cold and 
tepid spongings — a plan which I think dangerous, 
as it will probably drive the disease internally. 
Blisters, too, have been prescribed ; these I con- 
sider weakening, injurious and barbarous, and 
likely still more to inflame the already inflamed 
skin. They recommend leeches to the throat, 
which I am convinced, by depressing the patient, 
will lessen the chance of his battling against the 
disease, and will increase the ulceration of the 
tonsils. Again, the patient has not too much 
blood, the blood is only poisoned. I look upon 
scarlet fever as a specific poison of the blood, and 
one which will be eliminated from the system, not 
by bleeding, not by purgatives, not by emetics, but 
by a constant supply of fresh and cool air, by the 



436 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

acid treatment, by cold water as a beverage, 
and for the first few days by a strict antiphlogistic 
(low) diet. Sydenham says that scarlet fever is 
oftentimes "fatal through the orhciousness of the 
doctor." I conscientiously believe that a truer 
remark was ne\ r er made, and that under a different 
system to the usual one adopted, scarlet fever 
would not be so- much dreaded. 

Dr. Budd recommends that the body, including 
the scalp, of a scarlet fever patient, should be 
anointed every night and morning, after the fourth 
day, with camphorated oil ; this anointing to be 
continued until the patient is able to take a warm 
bath and use disinfectant soap ; this application 
will not only be very agreeable to the patient's 
feelings, as there is usually great irritation and 
itching of the skin, but it will be an important 
means of preventing the dead skin, which is highly 
infectious, and which comes off partly in flakes 
and partly floats about the air in dust, from in- 
fecting other persons. The plan is an excellent 
one, and cannot be too strongly recommended. 

If the case is a combination of scarlet fever and 
diphtheria, as it unfortunately now frequently is, 
treat it as a case of diphtheria. 

A child must not be allowed to go out for at least 
a month from the commencement of the attack, in 
the summer, and six weeks in the winter ; and not 
even then without the express permission of a 
doctor. It may be said that this is an unrea- 
sonable recommendation ; but when it is considered 



SCARLET FEVER— WHAT NOT TO DO. 437 

that the whole of the skin generally peels off, and 
consequently leaves the surface of the body ex- 
posed to cold, which cold flies to the kidneys, pro- 
ducing a peculiar and serious disease in them, 
ending in dropsy, this warning will not be deemed 
unreasonable. 

Scarlet fever dropsy, which is really a for- 
midable disease, generally arises from the carelessness, 
the ignorance, and the thoughtlessness of parents in 
allowing a child to leave the house before the new skin 
is properly formed and hardened. Prevention is 
better than cure. 

Thus far with regard to the danger to the child 
himself. Now let me show you the risk of con- 
tagion that you inflict upon families, in allowing 
your child to mix with others before a month at 
least has elapsed. Bear in mind, a case is quite as 
contagious while the skin is peeling off, as it was 
before. Thus, in ten days or two weeks, there is 
as much risk of contagion as at the beginning of 
the disease, and when the fever is at its height. 
At the conclusion of the month, the old skin has 
generally all peeled off, and the new skin has taken 
its place ; consequently there will be less fear of 
contagion to others. But the contagion of scarlet 
fever is so subtle and so uncertain in its duration, 
that it is impossible to fix the exact time when it 
ceases. Let me most earnestly implore you to 
ponder well on the above important facts. If 
these remarks should be the means of saving only 
one child from death, or from broken health, my 
labor will not have been in vain. 



43B CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

To purify a house, clothes, and furniture, from 
the contagion of scarlet fever, let every room in 
the house, together with its contents, and clothing 
and dresses that cannot be washed, be well fumi- 
gated with sulphur — taking care to close both 
windows and doors while disinfecting the house ; 
let every room be lime-washed and then white- 
washed ; if the contagion has been virulent, let 
every bedroom be freshly papered (the walls hav- 
ing been previously stripped of the old paper and 
then lime-washed) ; let the bed, the bolsters, the 
pillows, and the mattresses be cleaned and purified; 
let the blankets and coverlids* be thoroughly 
washed, and then let them be exposed to the open 
air — if taken into a field so much the better; let 
the rooms be well scoured ; let the windows, top 
and bottom, be thrown open ; let the drains be 
examined ; let the well water be scrutinized, to see 
that it is not contaminated by faecal matter, either 
from the water-closet, the privy, the pig-stye, or 
the stable ; let the privies be emptied of their con- 
tents — remember, this is most important advice — then 
put into the empty places, either lime and pow- 
dered charcoal, or carbolic acid. It is a well ascer- 
tained fact that it is frequently impossible to rid a 
house of the infection of scarlet fever without 
adopting such a course. Let the children, who 
have not had, or who do not appear to be sicken- 
ing for scarlet fever, be sent away from home — if 
to a farm house so much the better. Indeed, leave 
no stone unturned, no means untried, to exter- 



SCARLET FEVER — WHAT NOT TO DO. 439 

minate the disease from the house and from the 
neighborhood. 

Precautions to be taken against the spread of scar- 
let fever. — Great care should be taken to separate 
the healthy from the infected. The nurses se- 
lected for attending scarlet fever patients should 
be those who have previously had scarlet fever 
themselves. Dirty linen should be removed at 
once, and be put into boiling water. Very little 
furniture should be in the room of a scarlet fever 
patient — the less the better — it only obstructs the 
circulation of the air, and harbors the scarlet fever 
poison. The most scrupulous attention to cleanli- 
ness should be observed in these cases. A patient 
who has recovered from scarlet fever before he 
associates with healthy people, should, for three 
or four consecutive mornings, have a warm bath, 
and well wash himself with soap while in the bath; 
he will, by adopting this plan, get rid of the dead 
skin, and thus remove the infected particles of the 
disease. If scarlet fever should appear in a school, 
the school must be broken up, in order that the 
disease may be stamped out. There must be no 
half measures where such a fearful disease is in 
question. A house containing scarlet fever pa- 
tients should be avoided as the plague ; it is folly 
at any time to put one's head into the lion's mouth. 
Chloralum, carbolic acid, and chloride of lime, are 
each and all good disinfectants, but not one is to 
be compared to perfect cleanliness and to an abund- 
ance of fresh and pure air — the last of which may 



440 CHILDREN AXD THEIR DISEASES. 

truly par excellence be called God's disinfectant. 
Either a tablespoonful of chloralum, or two tea- 
spoonfuls of carbolic acid, or a teaspoonful of 
chloride of lime in a pint of water, are useful to 
sprinkle the soiled handkerchiefs as soon as they 
are done with, and before they are washed ; to put 
in the pot-de-chambre and to keep in saucers about 
the room : but remember, as I have said before, 
and cannot, repeat too often, there is no prevent- 
ive like the air of heaven, which should be al- 
lowed to permeate and circulate freely through 
the apartment and through the house : air, air, AIR 
is the best disinfectant, curative, and preventive 
of scarlet fever in the world. 

I could only wish that my treatment of scarlet 
fever were, in all its integrity, more generally 
adopted : if it were, I am quite sure that thousands 
of children would annually be saved from broken 
health and from death. Time still further con- 
vinces me that ray treatment is based on truth, as 
I have every year additional proofs of its value 
and of its success, but error and prejudice are un- 
fortunately ever at work, striving all they can to 
defeat truth and common sense. One of my prin- 
cipal remedies in the treatment of scarlet fever is 
an abundance of fresh air. but many people prefer 
their own inventions to God's grand and yet 
simple remedies — thev pretend that they know 
better than the Mighty Framer of the universe. 

Chicken-pox is occasionally, but not always, 
ushered in with a slight shivering fit : the eruption 



CHICKEN-POX. 441 

shows itself in about twenty-four hours from the 
child first appearing poorly. It is a vesicular* 
disease. The eruption comes out in the form of 
small pimples, and principally attacks the scalp, 
the neck, the back, the chest and the shoulders, 
but rarely the face, while in small-pox the face is 
generally the part most affected. The next day 
these pimples fill with water, and thus become 
vesicles ; on the third day they are at maturity. 
The vesicles are quite separate and distinct from 
each other. There is a slight redness around each 
of them. Fresh ones make their appearance while 
the others are dying away. Chicken-pox is usually 
attended with a slight itching of the skin ; when 
the vesicles are scratched the fluid escapes, and 
leaves hard, pearl-like substances, which, in a few 
days disappear. Chicken-pox never leaves pit 
marks behind. It is a child's complaint; adults 
scarcely ever have it. 

It is not at all dangerous, but, on the contrary, 
a trivial complaint. It lasts only a few days, and 
requires but little medicine. The patient ought 
to keep the house for three or four days, and 
should abstain from animal food. On the sixth 
day, but not until then, a dose or two of a mild 
aperient is all that will be required. 

Is chicken-pox infectious? — There is a diversity of 
opinion on this head, but one thing is certain — it 
cannot be communicated by inoculation. 

* Vesicles. Small elevations of the cuticle, covering a fluid which 
is generally clear and colorless at first, but becomes afterward 
whitish and opaque or nearly so. — Watson, 



44- CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Is whooping-cough an inflammatory disease? — 
Whooping-cough in itself is not inflammatory; it 
is purely spasmodic, but it is generally accom- 
panied with more or less of bronchitis — inflamma- 
tion of the mucous membrane of the bronchial 
tubes. 

Whooping-cough is emphatically a disease of the 
young ; it is rare for adults to have it ; if they do, 
they usually suffer more severely than children. 
A child seldom has it but once in his life. It is 
highly contagious, and therefore frequently runs 
through a whole family of children, giving much 
annoyance, anxiety and trouble to the mother and 
the nurses; .hence whooping-cough is much 
dreaded by them. It is amenable to treatment. 
Spring and summer are the best seasons of the 
year for the disease to occur. This complaint 
usually lasts from six to twelve weeks — sometimes 
for a much longer period, more especially if proper 
means are not employed to relieve it. 

Whooping-cough commences'as a common cold 
and cough. The cough, for ten days or a fort- 
night, increases in intensity ; at about which time 
it puts on the characteristic " whoop." The at- 
tack of cough comes on in paroxysms. In a par- 
oxysm, the child coughs so long and so violently, 
and expires so much air from the lungs without in- 
spiring any, that at times he appears nearly suf- 
focated and exhausted ; the veins of his neck 
swell ; his eyes, with the tremendous exertions, 
almost seem to start from their sockets ; at length 



WHOOPING-COUGH. 443 

there is a sudden inspiration of air through the 
contracted chink of the upper part of the wind- 
pipe — the glottis — causing the peculiar " whoop ;" 
and after a little more coughing he brings up 
some glairy mucus from the chest ; and some- 
times food from the stomach by vomiting. This 
relieves him until the next paroxysm occurs, when 
the same process is repeated, the child during the 
intervals appearing quite well, and after the cough 
is over instantly returning either to his play or 
to his food. Generally, after a paroxysm he is 
hungry, unless, indeed, there is severe inflamma- 
tion of the chest or the lungs. Sickness, as I be- 
fore remarked, frequently accompanies whooping- 
cough ; when it does, it may be looked upon as a 
good sign. The child usually knows when an at- 
tack is coming on ; he dreads it, and therefore tries 
to prevent it ; he sometimes partially succeeds ; 
but if he does, it only makes the attack more 
severe when it does come. All causes of irritation 
and excitement ought to be avoided, as passion is 
apt to bring on a severe paroxysm. 

A new-born babe — an infant of one or two 
months old — commonly escapes the infection ; but 
if he catches whooping-cough at that tender age 
unfortunately it is likely to fare harder with him 
than if he were older — the younger the child the 
greater the risk. Still, in such a case, do not de- 
spair ; I have known numerous instances of new- 
born infants, with judicious care, recovering per- 
fectly from the attack, and thriving alter it as 
though nothing of the kind had ever happened. 



444 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

A new-born babe, laboring under whooping- 
cough, is liable to convulsions, which is in this dis- 
ease the great source of danger. A child who is 
teething and laboring under the disease, is also 
liable to convulsions. When the patient is con- 
valescing, care ought to be taken that he does 
not catch cold, or the " whoop " might return. 
Whooping-cough may either precede, attend or 
follow an attack of measles. 

Treatment of whooping-cough, — We will divide 
the whooping-cough into three stages, and treat 
each stage separately. 

What to do. — In the first stage, the commence- 
ment of whooping-cough, for the first ten days 
give the following prescription : 

Take of Fluid Extract of Belladonnae, thirty drops; 
Tincture Opii Camp., one ounce; 
Syrup of Aurantii, two ounces. 
Mix. — Give from four to eight teaspoonfuls in twenty-four hours, 
to a child three years old. 

If the child is not weaned, keep him entirely to 
the breast ; if he is weaned, to a milk and farina- 
ceous diet. Confine him for the first ten days to 
the house, more especially if the whooping-cough 
is attended, as it usually is, with more or less 
bronchitis. But take care that the rooms are well 
ventilated, for good air is essential to the cure. 
If the bronchitis attending the whooping-cough 
is severe, confine him to his bed, and treat him as 
though it were simply a case of bronchitis.* 

*For the treatment of bronchitis, see page 412. 



WHOOPING-COUGH — TREATMENT. 445 

In the second stage, discontinue the above and 
give nitric acid — which I have found to be an 
efficacious and valuable remedy in whooping- 
cough : 

Take of — Diluted Nitric Acid, two drams; 

Compound Tincture of Cardamoms, half a dram; 
Simple Syrup, three ounces; 
Water, two ounces and a half. 
Make a mixture. — One or two teaspoonfuls, or a tablespoonful, 
according to the age of the child — one teaspoonful for an infant of six 
months, and two teaspoonfuls for a child of twelve months, and one 
tablespoonful for a child of two years, every four hours, first shaking 
the bottle. 

Let the spine and chest be well rubbed every 
night and morning with the following stimulating 
liniment (first shaking the bottle) : 

Take of — Oil of Cloves, one dram; 
Oil of Amber, two drams; 
Camphorated Oil, nine drams. 
Make a liniment. 

Let him wear a broad band of new flannel, which 
should extend around from his chest to his back, 
and which ought to be changed every night and 
morning, in order that it may be dried before put- 
ting on again. To keep it in its place it should 
be fastened by means of tapes and shoulder straps. 

The diet ought now to be improved — he should 
gradually return to his usual food ; and, weather 
permitting, should almost live in the open air — 
fresh air being one of the finest medicines. 

In the third stage, that is, when the complaint 
has lasted a month, there is nothing like change of 



446 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

air to a high, dry, healthy country place. Continue 
the use of Nitric Acid Mixture and liniment, and 
let him almost live in the open air, and be sure he 
does not discontinue wearing the flannel until he is 
quite cured, and then leave it off by degrees. 

If the whooping-cough has caused debility, give 
him Cod-liver Oil — a teaspoonful twice or three 
times a day, giving it on a full stomach, after his 
meals. Remember that after the first three or four 
weeks change of air, and plenty of it, is for whoop- 
ing-cough the grand remedy. 

What NOT to do. — Do not apply leeches to the 
chest, for I would rather put blood into a child 
laboring under whooping-cough than to take it 
out of him — whooping-cough is quite weakening 
enough to the system of itself without robbing him 
of his life's blood ; do not, on any account what- 
ever, administer either emetic tartar or antimonial 
wine; do not dose him with quack medicine; do 
not give him stimulants, but rather give him plenty 
of nourishment, such as milk and farinaceous food, 
but no stimulants ; do not be afraid, after the first 
week or two, of his having fresh air, and plenty of 
it — for fresh, pure air is the grand remedy, after 
all that can be said and done, in whooping-cough. 
Although occasionally we find that, if the child is 
laboring under whooping-cough, and is breathing 
a pure country air, and is not getting well so 
rapidly as we could wish, change of air to a smoky, 
gas-laden town will sometimes quickly effect a 
cure ; indeed, some persons go so far as to say that 



WHOOPING-COUGH — WHAT NOT TO DO. 447 

the best remedy for an obstinate case of whooping- 
cough is, for the child to live, the great part of 
every day, in gas works. 

During a paroxysm of whooping-cough, if the 
child is old enough, let him stand up ; but if he is 
either too young or too feeble, raise his head, and 
bend his body a little forward ; then support his 
back with one hand, and the forehead with the 
other. Let the mucus be wiped out of his mouth 
with a soft handkerchief the moment it is within 
reach. 

A chill is to be looked upon as an important 
symptom. Nearly all serious illness commences 
with a chill ; severe colds, influenza, inflammations 
of different organs, scarlet fever, measles, small- 
pox and very many other diseases, begin in this 
way. If your child should ever have a chill, 
instantly send for a doctor, as delay might be 
dangerous. A few hours of judicious treatment, 
at the commencement of an illness, is frequently of 
more avail than days and weeks, nay months of 
treatment, when disease has gained a firm footing. 
A serious disease often steals on insidiously, and 
we have perhaps only a slight chill to tell us of its 
approach. 

A trifling ailment, too, by neglecting the pre- 
monitory symptom, which at first might only be 
indicated by a slight shivering fit, will sometimes 
become a mortal disorder. 

In case of a chill, instantly have the bed warmed, 
and put the child to bed. Apply at once a hot 



448 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

water bottle or a hot brick, wrapped in flannel, 
to the soles of his feet. Put an extra blanket on 
his bed, and give him a cup of hot tea. As soon 
as the shivering is over, and he has become hot, 
gradually lessen the extra quantity of clothes on 
his bed, and take away the hot bottle or hot brick 
from his feet. 

What not to do. — Do not give either brandy or 
wine, as inflammation of some organ might be 
about taking place. Do not administer laxative 
medicine, as th^re might be an eruption coming 
out on the skin, and an aperient would probably 
check it. 

The mumps. — An inflammation of the parotid 
gland is most commonly ushered in with a light 
feverish attack. After a short time, a swelling, 
of stony hardness, is noticed before and under the 
ear, which swelling extends along the neck toward 
the chin. This lump is exceedingly painful, and 
continues painful and swollen for four or five 
days, at the end of which time it gradually dis- 
appears, leaving not a trace behind. The swell- 
ing of mumps never gathers. It may affect one 
or both sides of the face. It seldom occurs but 
once in a lifetime. It is contagious, and has been 
known to run through a whole family or school; 
but it is not dangerous unless it leaves the parotid 
gland, which is rarely the case, and migrates to 
the head, the breast, or testicles. 

The treatment. — Foment the swelling, four or 
five times a day, with a flannel wrung out of hot 



THE MUMPS — TREATMENT. 449 

camomile and hops in equal parts, and apply every 
night a bran and oatmeal poultice to the swollen 
gland or glands. Debar the little patient from 
taking meat and broth for a few days, and let him 
live on bread and milk, light puddings, and arrow- 
root. Keep him in a well ventilated room, and 
shut him out from the company of his brothers, 
his sisters and young companions. Give him a 
little mild aperient medicine. Of course, if there 
is the slightest symptom of migration to any other 
part or parts, instantly call in a doctor. 

Treatment of a boil. — One of the best applica- 
tions is a Burgundy-pitch plaster spread on a soft 
piece of wash-leather. Let a druggist spread a 
plaster, about the size of the hand ; and from this 
piece cut small plasters, the size of a twenty-five 
cent piece or larger (according to the dimensions 
of the boil), which snip around and apply to the 
part. Put a fresh one on daily. This plaster will 
soon cause the boil to break ; when it does break 
squeeze out the contents and apply one of the plas- 
ters as before, which renew every day, until the 
boil is well. 

The old fashioned remedy for a boil — common 
yellow soap and brown sugar, — is a capital one for 
the purpose. It is made with equal parts of brown 
sugar and shredded yellow soap, mixed by means 
of a table knife on a plate, with a few drops of 
water, until it is all well blended together, and of 
the consistence of thick paste ; it should then be 
spread on a piece of wash-leather, or on thick 



450 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

linen, and applied to the boil, and kept in its place 
by means of a bandage or a folded handkerchief, 
and should be renewed once or twice a day. 
This is an excellent application for a boil — 
soothing, comforting, and drawing — and will soon 
effect a cure. A paste of honey and flour, spread 
on linen, is another popular and good application 
for a boil. 

If the boil should arise from a delicate state of 
health, give the child cod-liver oil, meat once a 
day, and an abundance of milk and farinaceous 
food. Let him have plenty of fresh air, exercise, 
and play. 

If the boils should arise from gross and improper 
feeding, then keep him for a time from meat, and 
let him live principally on farinaceous food. 

If the child is fat and gross, cod-liver oil will be 
improper ; a mild aperient, such as rhubarb and 
magnesia, would then be the best medicine. 

Symptoms of earache. — A young child screaming 
shrill) 7 , violently, and continuously, is oftentimes 
owing to earache; carefully examine each ear, and 
ascertain if there is any discharge ; if there is, the 
mystery is explained. 

Remedy for earache. — Apply to the ear a small 
flannel bag, filled with hot salt — as hot as can be 
comfortably borne, or foment the ear with a flannel 
wrung out with a decoction of hot camomile and 
hops. A roasted onion, inclosed in muslin applied 
to the ear, is an old fashioned and favorite remedy, 
and may be tried if the bag of hot salt, or the fo- 



EARACHE — TREATMENT. 45 I 

mentation does not relieve. Put into the ear, but 
not very far, a small piece of cotton wool, moist- 
ened with warm olive oil. Take care that the 
wool is always removed before a fresh piece is 
substituted, as, if allowed to remain in any length 
of time, it may produce a discharge from the ear. 
Avoid all cold applications. If the earache is 
severe, keep the little fellow at home, in a room of 
equal temperature, but well ventilated, and give 
him no meat for a day or two. 

If a discharge from the ear should either ac- 
company or follow the earache, more especially if 
the discharge is offensive, instantly call in a doctor, 
or deafness for life may be the result. A knitted 
or crocheted hat, with woolen rosettes over the 
ears, is an excellent winter hat for a child subject 
to earache. 

Causes and the treatment of discharges from the 
ear. — Cold, measles, scarlet fever, healing up of 
breakings out behind the ear ; pellets of cotton 
wool, which had been put in the ear and forgotten, 
are the usual causes of discharges from the ear. 
It generally commences with earache. 

The treatment consists in keeping the parts clean, 
by syringing the ear every morning with warm 
water, by attention to food — keeping the child 
principally upon a milk and farinaceous diet, and 
by change of air. If change of air is not prac- 
ticable, great attention should be paid to venti- 
lation. As I have before advised, in all cases of 
discharge from the ear call in a physician, as a 



452 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

little judicious medicine is advisable — indeed, es- 
sential — and it may be necessary to syringe the 
ear with lotions, instead of with warm water, and, 
of course, it is only a doctor who has actually seen 
the patient who can decide these matters, and what 
is best to be done in each case. 

Treatment of a "stye" on the eyelid. — Bathe the 
eye frequently with warm milk and water, and 
apply every night at bedtime, a warm white 
bread poultice. No medicine is required, but if 
the child is gross, keep him for a few days from 
meat, and let him live on bread and milk and 
farinaceous puddings. 

A sure remedy for a " stye " is as follows : 

Take of — Potas Iodide, eighty grains; 
Potas Chlorate, five grains; 
Aqua Rosa, one ounce. 
Mix. — Put five or six drops in the eye four or five times a day, 
and occasionally bathe the st)^ with the same. 

Large bowels. — It ought to be borne in mind 
that the bowels of a child are larger in proportion 
than those of an adult. But, if they are actually 
larger than they ought to be, rub them well for a 
quarter of an hour at a time night and morning, 
with soap liniment, and then apply a broad flannel 
belt. A broad flannel belt worn night and day, 
firm but not tight, is very serviceable. The child 
ought to be prevented from drinking as much as 
he has been in the habit of doing ; let him be en- 
couraged to exercise much in the open air, and let 
strict regard be paid to his diet. 



CONSTIPATION IN CHILDREN. 453 

Aperients for a child. — If it is actually necessary 
to give him physic, one or two teaspoonfuls of 
Syrup of Senna, repeated, if necessary, in four 
hours, will generally answer the purpose. Com- 
pound Confection of Senna is another excellent 
aperient for the young, it being mild in its opera- 
tion, and pleasant to take ; a child fancying it is 
nothing more than jam, and which it much resem- 
bles, both in appearance and in taste. The dose is 
half a leaspoonful early in the morning occasionally. 
Senna is an admirable aperient for a child, and is 
a safe one, which is more than can be said of many 
others. It is worthy of note that the taste of 
senna may be concealed by sweetening the in- 
fusion, adding milk, and drinking as ordinary tea, 
which it much resembles when thus prepared. 
Honey, too, is a nice aperient for a child — a tea- 
spoonful ought to be given either by itself, or 
spread on a slice of bread. 

Fluid Magnesia — Solution of Carbonate of Mag- 
nesia — is a good aperient for a child, and, as it has 
very little taste, is readily given, more especially 
if made palatable by the addition of a little syrup 
or of brown sugar. The advantages which it has 
over the solid form are, that it is colorless *and 
nearly tasteless, and never forms concretions 
in the bowels, as the solid magnesia sometimes 
does if persevered in for any length of time. A 
child of two or three years old may take one or 
two tablespoonfuls of the fluid, either by itself or in 
his food, repeating it every four hours until the 



454 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

bowels are open. When the child is old enough 
to drink the draught off immediately, the addition 
of one or two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice to each 
dose of the fluid magnesia, makes a pleasant 
effervescing, draught, and increases its efficacy as 
an aperient. 

Graham bread and molasses will frequently 
open the bowels, and as the latter is wholesome, it 
may be substituted for butter when the bowels are 
inclined to be costive. A roasted apple, eaten 
with raw sugar, is another excellent mild aperient 
for a child. Milk gruel — that is milk thickened 
with oatmeal — forms an excellent food, and often 
keeps the bowels regular, and thus {which is an 
important consideration) supersedes the necessity of 
giving an aperient. An orange or a fig after din- 
ner, or a few Muscatel raisins, will frequently 
regulate the bowels. 

Stewed prunes is another admirable remedy 
for the costiveness of a child. The manner of 
stewing them is as follows : Put a pound of 
prunes in a brown jar, add two tablespoonfuls of 
sugar, and cover with cold water, place them in 
the oven, and stew for four hours. A child should 
eat half a dozen or a dozen of them every morning 
until the bowels are relieved, taking care that he 
does not swallow the stones. Stewed prunes may 
be given in treacle — treacle increasing the aperient 
properties of the prunes. 

A suppository is a mild and ready way of 
opening the bowels of a child. When he is two 



CONSTIPATION IN CHILDREN. 455 

or three years old and upward, a candle sup- 
pository is better than a soap suppository. Pre- 
pare as follows : Cut a piece of dip-tallow candle 
— the length of three inches — and insert it as you 
would a clyster pipe, about two inches up the 
fundament, allowing the remaining inch to be in 
sight, and there let the suppository remain until 
the bowels are opened. 

Another excellent method of opening a child's 
bowels is by means of an enema of warm water — 
from half a teacupful to a teacupful, or even 
more, according to the age of the child. I cannot 
speak too highly of this plan as a remedy for con- 
stipation, as in the generality of cases it entirely 
prevents the necessity of administering a particle 
of aperient medicine. This fact stamps it as a 
most valuable remedy — physic being, as a rule, 
very objectionable, and injurious to the child's 
bowels. Bear this fact in mind, and let it be al- 
ways remembered. 

A wet compress to the bowels will frequently 
open them, and will thus do away with the neces- 
sity of giving an aperient — a most important consid- 
eration. Fold a napkin in six thicknesses, soak it 
in cold water, and apply it to the bowels, over 
which put either a thin covering or sheet of oil- 
cloth, or a piece of oil-silk; keep it in its place with 
a broad flannel roller, and let it remain on the 
bowels for three or four hours, or until they are 
opened. 

Try what diet will do, as opening the bowels 



456 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

by a regulated diet is far preferable to the giving 
of aperients. Let him have Graham bread, or pure 
oatmeal made into gruel with new milk. Let him 
eat stewed prunes, stewed rhubarb, roasted apples, 
strawberries, the inside of grapes and gooseberries, 
figs, etc. Give him early every morning a draught 
of cold water. 

Let me again urge you not to give aperients in 
these cases, or in any case, unless you are abso- 
lutely compelled. By following my advice you 
will save yourself an immense deal of trouble, and 
your child a long catalogue of misery. Again, I 
say, look well into the matter, and whenever it is 
practicable avoid purgatives. 

Protrusion of the lower bowel is due to the com- 
mon and reprehensible practice of a parent admin- 
istering frequent aperients to her child. Another 
cause, is allowing him to remain for a quarter of 
an hour or more at a time on his chair ; this in- 
duces him to strain, and to force the bowel down. 

The best manner of returning the bowel is to 
lay the child upon the bed on his face and bowels, 
with his hips a little raised, then smear lard on the 
forefinger of your right hand (taking care that the 
nail is cut loose), and gently press the bowel 
into its proper place with the forefinger. Re- 
member, if the above methods are observed, you 
cannot do the slightest injury to the bowel ; and 
the sooner it is returned the better it will be for 
the child, for if the bowel is allowed to remain 
long down, it may slough or mortify, and death 



PROTRUSION OF THE BOWEL. 457 

may ensue. After each motion the nurse must see 
that the bowel does not come down, and if it does, 
she ought instantly to return it. The nurse should 
also be careful not to allow the child to remain on 
his chair more than two or three minutes at a 
time. 

Another excellent remedy for the protrusion of 
the bowel, is to use every morning a cold salt and 
water sitz bath. There need not be more than a 
depth of three inches of water in the bath ; a small 
handful of table salt should be dissolved in the 
water. A dash of warm water in the winter time 
must be added, to take off the extreme chill, and 
the child ought not to be allowed to sit in the bath 
for more than one minute, or while the mother can 
count a hundred, taking care to throw either a 
square of flannel or a small shawl over his should- 
ers. The sitz bath ought to be continued for 
months, or until the complaint is removed. I can- 
not speak in too high praise of these baths. 

In administering medicine to a child, if he is old 
enough, appeal to his reason. If a mother en- 
deavors to deceive her child, and he detects it, he 
will for the future suspect her. If he is too young 
to be reasoned with, and will not take medicine, 
then he must be compelled. Lay him across your 
knees, tightly hold both his hands and his nose, 
then, by means of the medicine spoon, pour the 
medicine down his throat, and he will be obliged 
to swallow it. 

It may be said that this is a cruel procedure, 



458 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

but it is the only way to compel an unruly child to 
take physic, and is much less cruel than running 
the risk of his dying for want of the medicine. 

A sick child ought not to be roused from his 
sleep to give him medicine, as sleep, being a natural 
restorative, must not be interfered with. A mother 
cannot be too particular in administering the med- 
icine, at stated periods, while he is awake. 

If a child wets his bed while asleep, let him be 
held out just before he goes to bed, and again 
when the family retires to rest. If he is asleep at 
the time, he will become so accustomed to it that 
he will urinate without awaking. He ought to be 
made to lie on his side ; for if put on his back the 
urine will rest upon an irritable part of the bladder, 
and if inclined to wet his bed he will not be able 
to avoid doing so. He must not be allowed to 
drink much with his meals, especially with his 
supper. Wetting the bed is an infirmity with 
some children — they cannot help it. It is, there- 
fore, cruel to scold and chastise them for it. Oc- 
casionally wetting the bed arises from idleness ; in 
which case a little wholesome correction may be 
necessary. Water-proof bed sheeting — one yard 
by three-quarters of a yard— will effectually pre- 
serve the bed, and ought always on these occa- 
sions to be used. 

A mother ought, every morning, to ascertain 
for herself whether a child has wet his bed ; if he 
has, and if the water-proof cloth has not been 
used, the mattress, sheets and blankets must be in- 



CHILBLAINS — TREATMENT. 459 

stantly taken to the kitchen fire and be properly 
dried. Inattention to the above has frequently 
caused a child to suffer from cold, a fever, or an 
inflammation ; not only so, but if they are not 
dried he is wallowing in filth, and in an offensive 
effluvium. If both mother and nurse were more 
attentive to their duties — in frequently holding a 
child out, wetting the bed would be the exception, 
and not, as it frequently is, the rule. If a child is 
dirty, you may depend upon it, the right persons 
to blame are the mother and the nurse, and not the 
child. 

Chilblains and the way to prevent them. — Let a 
child who is subject to them, wear in the winter 
time, a square piece of wash leather over the toes, 
a pair of warm lamb's wool stockings, and good 
shoes ; but above all, let him be encouraged to run 
about the house as much as possible, especially 
before going to bed ; and on no account allow him 
to warm his feet before the fire, or to bathe them 
in hot water. If the feet are cold, and the child 
too young to take exercise, then let them be well 
rubbed with the warm hand. If adults suffer 
from chilblains, I have found friction, night and 
morning, with horse hair flesh gloves, the best 
means of preventing them. 

Secondly, the way to cure them. — If they are un- 
broken, the old fashioned remedy of onion and salt 
is one of the best of remedies. Cut an onion in 
two, take one-half of it, dip it in table salt and rub 
the chilblain with it for two or three minutes. 



460 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

The onion and salt is a famous remedy to relieve 
that intolerable itching which sometimes accom- 
panies chilblains ; then let them be covered with 
a piece of lint, over which a piece of wash leather 
should be placed. 

If they are broken, let a piece of lint be spread 
with spermaceti cerate, and applied every morn- 
ing to the part, and use a white bread poultice 
every night. 

Chapped hands. — Tie a teacupful of bran in a 
muslin bag, and put over night into a large water 
can or jug of rain water. Use this water to 
wash with on the following morning, and every 
morning until the chaps are cured. As often as 
water is withdrawn from the water can or jug, 
refill with fresh rain water, in order that the bran 
may be constantly soaking in it. The bran in the 
bag should be renewed about twice a week. 

Take particular care to dry the skin well every 
time he is washed ; then, as well as every night at 
bedtime, rub a piece of deer's suet over the parts 
affected ; a few dressings will perform a cure. 
The deer's suet maybe bought at any of the shops 
where venison is sold. Another excellent remedy 
is glycerine, which should be smeared, by means 
of the finger or a camel's hair brush two or three 
times *a day on the parts affected. If the child is 
very young, it may be necessary to dilute the 
glycerine with rose water ; fill a small bottle one- 
third with glycerine, and fill up the remaining 
two-thirds of the bottle with rose water — shaking 



CHAPPED LIPS. 461 

the bottle every time just before using it. The 
best soap to use for chapped hands is the gly- 
cerine soap. 

Chapped lips. — Cold cream (which may be pro- 
cured of any druggist) is an excellent application 
for chapped lips. It ought to be frequently smeared 
on the parts affected. 

The different varieties of worms that infest a 
child's bowels, are the tape-worm ; the long round- 
worm ; and the most frequent of all, the common 
thread or maw-worm. The tape-worm infests the 
whole course of the bowels, both small and large; 
the long round worm, principally the small 
bowels, occasionally the stomach; it sometimes 
crawls out of the child's mouth, causing alarm to 
the mother ; there is no danger in its doing so ; the 
common thread-worm or maw-worm infests the 
rectum or fundament. 

The causes of worms are : Weak bowels, bad 
and improper food, such as unripe, unsound, or 
uncooked fruit, and much green vegetables ; pork, 
especially underdone pork;* and abundance of 
sweets ; the want of salt in the food. 

The symptoms of worms are — emaciation ; 
itching and picking of the nose ; a dark mark 



*One frequent, if not the most frequent, cause of tape-worm is 
the eating of pork, more especially if it is not well cooked. Undt r- 
done pork is the most unwholesome food that can be eaten, and the 
most frequent cause of tape-worm known. Rare beef also gives tape- 
worm; let the meat, therefore, be well and properly cooked. These 
facts ought to be borne in mind, as prevention is always better than 



462 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

under the eyes ; grating of the teeth during sleep, 
starting in the sleep ; foul breath ; furred tongue ; 
uncertain appetite — sometimes voracious, at other 
times bad, the little patient sitting down very 
hungry to his dinner, and before scarcely tasting 
a mouthful, the appetite vanishing ; large bowels ; 
colicky pains of the bowels, slimy motions ; itching 
of the fundament. Tape-worm and round-worm, 
more especially the former, are apt to produce 
convulsions in children. Tape-worm is very 
weakening to the constitution, and usually causes 
great emaciation and general ill health ; the 
sooner it is expelled from the bowels the better it 
will be for the patient. 

Many of the obscure diseases of children arise 
from worms. In all doubtful cases this fact should 
be borne in mind, in order that a thorough inves- 
tigation may be instituted. 

Let me caution a mother never to give her 
child patent medicines for the destruction of 
worms. There is one favorite quack powder, 
which is composed principally of large doses of 
calomel, and which is quite as likely to destroy 
the patient as the worms. No, if your child has 
worms, put him under the care of a judicious 
physician, who will soon expel them, without, 
at the same time, injuring health or constitution. 

Worms generally infest weak bowels, hence the 
moment a child becomes strong, worms cease to 
exist. The reason why a child is so subject to 
them is owing to the improper food which is 



WORMS — TREATMENT. 463 

usually given to him. When he is stuffed with un- 
sound and with unripe fruits, with much sweets, 
with rich puddings, and with pastry, and when he 
is oftentimes allowed to eat his meat without salt, 
and to bolt his food without chewing it, is there 
any wonder that he should suffer with worms? 
The way to prevent them is to avoid such things, 
and, at the same time, to give him plenty of salt to 
his fresh and well-cooked meat. Salt strengthens 
and assists digestion, and is absolutely necessary 
to the human economy. Salt is most emphatically 
a worm destroyer. The truth of this statement 
may be readily tested by sprinkling a little 
salt on a common earth-worm. Look well to 
it, therefore, ye mothers, and beware of the conse- 
quences of neglecting such advice, and see for 
yourselves that your children regularly eat salt 
with their food. If they neglect eating salt with 
their food, they must of necessity have worms, and 
worms that will eventually injure them, and make 
them miserable. All food should be flavored with 
salt ; flavored, that is, salt should be used in each 
and every kind of food — not used in excess but in 
moderation. 

If a child is subject to a scabby eruption about 
the mouth, leave it to nature. Do not, on any ac- 
count, use any local application to heal it ; if you 
do, you may produce injury ; you may either bring 
on an attack of inflammation, or you may throw 
him into convulsions. This breaking out is fre- 
quently a safety-valve, and must not be needlessly 



464 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

interfered with. Should the eruption be severe, 
reduce the child's diet, keep him from butter, from 
gravy, and from fat meat, or from meat altogether 
for a few days, and give him mild aperient medi- 
cine. 

Milk crust is a complaint of very young children 
— of those who are cutting their teeth — and, as it is 
a nasty looking complaint, and frequently gives a 
mother a great deal of trouble, or anxiety and 
annoyance, it will be well that you should know 
its symptoms, its causes, and its probable duration. 

Symptoms. — When a child is about nine months 
or a year old, small pimples are apt to break out 
around the ears, on the forehead, and on the head. 
These pimples at length become vesicles (that is 
they contain water), which run into one large one, 
break, and form a nasty, dirty-looking, yellowish, 
and sometimes greenish, scab, which scab is moist, 
or sometimes quite wet, and gives out a disagree- 
able odor, and which is sometimes so large on the 
head as actually to form a skull cap, and so exten- 
sive on the face as to form a mask. These I am 
happy to say, are rare cases. The child's beauty 
is for a time completely destroyed, and not only 
his beauty, but his good temper, for as the eruption 
causes great irritation and itching, he is constantly 
clawing himself, and crying with annoyance the 
great part of the day, and sometimes of the night 
— the eruption preventing him from sleeping. It 
is not contagious, and soon after he has cut the 
whole of his first set of teeth it will get well, pro- 



MILK CRUST — CAUSES. 465 

viding it has not been improperly interfered with. 

Causes. — Irritation from teething, stuffing him 
with over-much meat, thus producing a humor, 
which Nature tries to get rid of b}^ throwing it 
out on the surface of the body, the safest place she 
could fix on for the purpose, hence the folly and 
danger of giving medicines and applying external 
applications to drive the eruption in. Diseased 
nature oftentimes breaks forth in strange eruptions, 
and cures herself in this way, if she is not too much 
interfered with, and if the eruption is not driven 
in by injudicious treatment. I have known in such 
cases disastrous consequences to follow over-offici- 
ousness and meddlesomeness. Nature is trying all 
she can to drive the humor out, while some wise- 
acres are doing all they can to drive the humor in. 

Duration. — As milk crust is a tedious affair, and 
will require a variety of treatment, it will be neces- 
sary to consult an experienced doctor, and although 
he will be able to afford great relief, the child will 
not, in all probability, be quite free from the erup- 
tion until he has cut the whole of his first set of 
teeth — until he is upward of two years and a half 
old — when, with judicious and careful treatment, 
it will gradually disappear, and eventually leave 
not a trace behind. 

It will be far better to leave the case alone — to 
get well of itself — rather than to try to cure the 
complaint either by outward applications or by 
strong internal medicines. The remedy is often 
worse than the disease ; of this I am perfectly 
convinced. 



466 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

In consulting a doctor give him your entire con- 
fidence. Be truthful and be candid with him. 
Tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. Have no reservations; give him, 
as near as you can, a plain, unvarnished statement 
of the symptoms of the disease. Do not magnify, 
and do not make too light of any of them. Be 
prepared to state the exact time the child first 
showed symptoms of illness. If he has had a 
shivering fit, however slight, do not* fail to tell 
your physician of it. Note the state of the skin ; 
if there is a breaking out — be it ever so trifling — 
let it be pointed out to him. Make yourself ac- 
quainted with the quantity and the appearance of 
the urine, taking care to have a little of it saved, 
in case the doctor may wish to see and examine 
it. Take notice of the state of the motions — their 
number during the twenty-four hours, their color, 
their smell, and their consistence, keeping one for 
his inspection. Never leave any of these ques- 
tions to be answered by a servant; a mother is the 
proper person to give the necessary and truthful 
answers, which answers frequently decide the fate 
of the patient. Bear in mind, then, the mother's 
untiring care and love, attention and truthfulness, 
frequently decide whether, in a serious illness, the 
child shall live or die. 

A doctor has arduous duties to perform ; 
smooth, therefore, his path as much as you can, 
and you will be amply repaid by the increasing 
good he will be able to do }^our child. Strictly 



VALUE OF WARM BATHS. 467 

obey the doctor's orders — in diet, in medicine, in 
everything. Never throw obstacles in his way. 
Never omit any of his suggestions ; for, depend 
upon it, that if he is a sensible man, his directions, 
however slight, ought never to be neglected. 

If the case is severe, requiring a second opinion, 
never call in a physician without first consulting 
and advising with your own doctor. It would be 
an act of great discourtesy to do so. Inattention 
to the foregoing advice has frequently caused 
injury to the patient, and heart burnings and ill 
will among doctors. 

Warm baths are useful for convulsions, pains in 
the bowels, restlessness from teething, and flatu- 
lence. The warm bath acts as a fomentation to 
the stomach and bowels, and gives ease where the 
usual remedies do not rapidly relieve. 

Carefully ascertain before he is immersed in 
the bath that the water is neither too hot nor cold. 
Carelessness, or over anxiety to put him in the 
water as quickly as possible, has frequently caused 
him great pain and suffering. From 96 to 98 
Fahrenheit is the proper temperature of a warm 
bath. If it is necessary to add fresh warm water, 
let him be removed, or not put in when very hot; 
for if boiling water is added to increase the heat 
of the bath, it naturally ascends, and may scald 
him. Again, let the fresh water be put in at as 
great a distance from him as possible. The usual 
time for him to remain in the bath is a quarter of 
an hour or twenty minutes. Let the chest and 



468 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

bowels be rubbed by the hand while he is in the 
bath. Let him be immersed in the bath as high 
up as the neck, taking care that he is supported 
under the arm-pits, and that his head is also rested. 
As soon as he comes out of the bath, he ought to 
be carefully but quickly rubbed dry, then put to 
bed. If the desired relief has been obtained he 
will fall into a sweet refreshing sleep. 

When there is pain in the stomach or bowels, 
there is nothing which affords greater or quicker 
relief than the external application of heat. The 
following are the four different methods of apply- 
ing heat : A flannel bag of hot salt applied to the 
stomach or the bowels, is an excellent remedy for 
these pains. A rubber hot water bottle,* half 
filled with hot water, applied to the stomach or 
bowels, will afford great comfort. Another excel- 
lent remedy for these cases is a hot bran poultice. 
To make this, stir bran into a vessel containing 
either a pint or more of boiling water, until it is 
of the consistence of a soft poultice, then put into 
a flannel bag and apply to the part affected. When 
cool, dip from time to time in hot water. In case 
a child has a feverish cold, especially if it is at- 
tended with pains in the bowels, a hot compress is 
a good external application. Take a yard of 
flannel, fold it in three widths, then dip it in very 
hot water, wring it out tolerably dry, and apply it 



*Every house where there are children ought to have one of these 
rubber hot water bottles. 



VALUE OF WARM BATHS. 469 

evenly and neatly round and round the bowels ; 
over this, and to keep it in its place, put on a dry 
flannel bandage. If it is put on at bedtime, it 
ought to remain on all night. Where there are 
children, it is desirable to have the yard of flannel 
and the flannel bandage in readiness, and then a 
mother will be prepared for emergencies. Either 
of the above applications will usually afford great 
relief. There is one great advantage in the ex- 
ternal application of heat — it can never do harm ; 
if there is inflammation, it will do good ; if cramps 
or spasms of the stomach, it will be serviceable ; 
if colic, it will be one of the best remedies that 
can be used ; if a feverish cold, it will throw the 
child into a perspiration, and prove beneficial. 

It is well for a mother to know how to make a 
white bread poultice. Scald a basin, for you can 
never make a good poultice unless you have per- 
fectly boiling water, then throw in coarsely crum- 
bled bread, and cover with a plate. When the 
bread has soaked up as much water as it will im- 
bibe, drain off the remaining water, and there will 
be a light pulp left. Spread it a third of an inch 
thick on folded linen, and apply. It may be said 
that this poultice will be very inconvenient if there 
is no lard in it, for it will soon get dry ; but this is 
the very thing you want, and it can easily be 
moistened by dropping warm water on it, while a 
greasy poultice will be moist, but not wet. 

Accidents. — If a child cuts his finger, there is 
nothing better than tying it up. Do not wash the 



470 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

blood away, but apply the rag at once, taking care 
that no foreign substance is left in the wound. If 
there is either glass or dirt in it, it will be neces- 
sary to bathe the cut in warm water before the 
bandage is applied. Some mothers use turpentine 
on a fresh wound. This plan is cruel and unne- 
cessary, and frequently makes the cut difficult to 
heal. If it bleeds immoderately, sponge the wound 
freely with cold water. 

If a child receives a blow, causing a bruise, imme- 
diately smear a small lump of fresh butter on the 
part affected, and renew it every few minutes for 
two or three hours; this is an old fashioned, but a 
very good remedy. If fresh butter is not at hand 
olive oil may be used, or soak a piece of brown 
paper in one-third of French brandy and two-thirds 
of water, and immediately apply ; when dry, renew 
it. Either of these simple plans will generally 
prevent both swelling and disfiguration. 

A black eye. — For a blow over the eye there is 
no remedy superior to fresh butter. Well anoint 
the parts for two or three inches around the eye, 
renewing it every few minutes for the space of an 
hour or two ; if well done the disagreeable ap- 
pearance of a black eye will probably be prevented. 
Another capital remedy is the arnica lotion ■ 

Take of — Tincture of Arnica, one ounce ; 
Water, seven ounces. 
To make a lotion. Bathe the eye frequently by means of a soft 
piece of linen with this lotion, and between times, let a piece of 
linen wet in the lotion, be applied to the eye, and be fastened in its 
place by means of a bandage. 



ACCIDENTAL POISONING. 47 1 

If a child falls upon his head and is stunned, he 
will look deadly pale, very much as if he had 
fainted. In a few minutes he will in all proba- 
bility, regain his consciousness. Sickness fre- 
quently supervenes, which makes the case more 
serious, it being a proof that injury, more or less 
severe, has been done to the brain. 

Immediately loosen his collar and tie, lay him 
flat on his back, sprinkle cold water upon his face, 
open the windows so as to admit plenty of fresh air, 
and do not let people crowd around, nor shout to 
make him speak. 

While he is in an unconscious state, do not 
allow a drop of blood to be taken from him, 
either by leeches or from the arm ; if you do, he 
will probably never rally, but will most likely 
sleep the sleep that knows no waking. 

Accidental poisoning. — It is a frequent practice 
for a mother or nurse to leave external applica- 
tions within the reach of a. child. It is also highly 
improper to put a mixture and an external appli- 
cation on the same tray or on the same mantel- 
piece. Many liniments contain large quantities of 
opium, a teaspoonful of which would cause the 
death of a child. Hartshorn and oil has fre- 
quently been swallowed by children, and in sev- 
eral instances has caused death. Many lotions 
contain sugar of lead, which is also poisonous. 
There is not generally sufficient lead in the lotion 
to cause death ; but there is enough to make the 
child very sick. All these accidents occur from 
disgraceful carelessness. 



472 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

Before administering a dose of medicine to a 
child a mother or nurse ought always to read the 
label on the bottle. By adopting this simple plan 
many serious accidents and much after misery 
may be averted. Again, I say, let every lotion, 
every liniment, and indeed everything for external 
use, be locked up or put out of the way, and far 
away from all medicine that is given internally. 
This advice admits of no exception. 

If vour child has swallowed a portion of a lini- 
ment which contains opium, administer a strong 
mustard emetic (composed of two teaspoonfuls ot 
flour of mustard, mixed with a half a teacupful of 
warm water). Encourage the vomiting by after- 
ward forcing him to swallow warm water. Tickle 
the throat either with your finger or with a feather. 
Plunge him alternately in a hot and then in a cold 
bath. Dash cold water on his head and face. 
Throw open the windows. Walk him about in 
the open air. Rouse him by slapping him, by 
pinching him, and by shouting to him ; rouse him, 
indeed, by every means in your power, for if you 
allow him to go to sleep, it will, in all probability, 
be the sleep that knows no waking. 

When a child has swallowed hartshorn and oil, 
force him to drink vinegar and water, lemon-juice 
and water sweetened with sugar, barley water, 
and thin gruel. If he has swallowed a lead lotion, 
give him a mustard emetic, and then vinegar and 
water, sweetened either with honey or with sugar, 
to drink. 



IMPORTANT ADVICE. 473 

Lucifer matches are very poisonous ; it is there- 
fore desirable that they should be put out of the 
reach of children. A mother ought to be very 
strict with servants on this head. Matches are not 
only poisonous but dangerous, as a child may set 
himself on fire with them. 

If a child 's clothes take fire, lay him on the floor, 
and roll him in the rug, in the carpet, or in any 
thick article you may have at hand ; if it is woolen, 
so much the better, or roll him over and over on 
the floor; by excluding the air, the flame will go 
out. It is important that a mother should culti- 
vate presence of mind. If parents were better 
prepared for such emergencies, such horrid dis- 
figurations and frightful deaths would be less 
frequent. Burns are generally more serious than 
scalds. Burns and scalds are more dangerous on 
the body, especially on the chest, than either on 
the face or on the extremities. The younger the 
child, the greater the danger. 

Scalds both of the mouth and throat, from a 
child drinking boiling water from the spout of a 
tea-kettle, are most dangerous. A poor person's 
child is sometimes shut up in the kitchen by him- 
self, from the unavoidable absence of the mother, 
and being very thirsty, and no other water at hand, 
is tempted to drink from the tea-kettle. 

The best immediate application to a scald or a burn 
is flour. It ought to be thickly applied over the 
part affected, and kept in place with a bandage, or 
with strips of old linen. If tins is done, almost 



474 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

instantaneous relief will be experienced, and the 
burn or scald, if superficial, will soon be well. 
The advantage of flour as a remedy is that it is al- 
ways at hand. I have seen some extensive burns 
and scalds cured by the above simple plan. Equal 
parts of lime water and linseed oil make an ex- 
cellent application for a burn or scald, and will 
prevent blistering if faithfully used at once. 

Prepared lard — that is lard without salt* — is an 
admirable remedy for burns and scalds. The ad- 
vantages of lard are : It is almost always at hand ; 
is very cooling, soothing, and unirritating to the 
part, and gives almost immediate freedom from 
pain. It effectually protects and sheathes the 
burn or scald from the air. It is readily and easily 
applied ; all that has to be done is to spread on 
pieces of old linen or on lint, and apply smoothly 
to the parts affected, keeping them in their places 
by means of bandages. 

Cold applications, such as cold water, cold 
vinegar and water, and cold lotions, are most in- 
jurious, and in many cases, even dangerous. 
Scraped potatoes, sliced cucumber, salt, and spirits 
of turpentine, have all been recommended, but in 
my "practice nothing has been so efficacious as the 
remedies above enumerated. 

Do not wash the wound, and do not dress it 
more frequently than every other day. If there is 

* If there is no other lard in the house but lard with salt, the salt 
may be readily removed by washing the lard in cold water. Prepared 
lard — lard Txriiltont salt — can be procured from the nearest druggist in 
the neighborhood. 



SCALDS AND BURNS — TREATMENT. 475 

much discharge, absorb it with soft linen, but do 
not, on any account, let the burn be rubbed or 
roughly handled. I am convinced that, in the 
majority of cases, wounds are too frequently 
dressed, and that the washing of wounds prevents 
their healing. 

After the first two days, if severe, the burn or 
the scald may require different dressings. 

If the scald is either on the leg or foot, a com- 
mon practice is to take the shoe and stocking off. 
In this operation the skin is also at the same time 
very apt to be removed. Both the shoe and the 
stocking ought to be slit and taken off, so that 
neither unnecessary pain nor mischief may be 
caused. 

If a bit of quicklime should accidentally enter the 
eye of a child, instantly, but tenderly, either by 
means of a camel's hair brush, or by a small spill 
of paper remove any bit of lime that may adhere 
to the ball of the eye, or be in the eye, or on the 
eyelashes. Then well bathe the eye, using vinegar 
and water, one part of vinegar and three parts of 
water. Bathe the eye for at least a quarter of 
an hour. The vinegar will neutralize the lime, 
and will rob it of its burning properties. 

Having bathed the eye with vinegar and water 
for a quarter of an hour, bathe it for another 
quarter of an hour with warm water, after which, 
drop into the eye two or three drops of the best 
sweet oil. An eye-shade made of three thick- 
nesses of linen covered with green silk should be 



476 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

worn until the eye has fully recovered. If the 
above rules are not promptly and proper ly followed 
the child may irreparably lose his eyesight. 

The above accident is apt to occur to a child 
who is standing near a building when the slacking 
of quicklime is going on, and where portions of 
lime in the form of powder are flying about the 
air. It will be well not to allow a child to stand 
about such places, as prevention is always better 
than cure. Quicklime is sometimes called caustic 
lime ; it well deserves its name, for it is a burning 
lime, and if the proper means are not promptly 
used, will soon burn away the sight. 

If there is grit, sand, dust, a particle of coal, a 
gnat, a hair, or an eyelash in the eye, it ought to 
be tenderly removed by a small tightly folded 
paper spill, holding down the lower lid with the 
forefinger of the left hand ; and the eye, if in- 
flamed, should be frequently bathed with warm 
milk and water. Generally as soon as the cause 
is removed the effect will cease, and after treat- 
ment will be unnecessary. Any foreign substance, 
however minute, in the eye is very painful ; but a 
piece of burning lime is excruciating. 

Choking. — Often, a child fills his mouth full and 
swallows lumps of food in such haste as to choke. 

Treatment. — Instantly put your finger into the 
throat and feel if the substance is within reach ; if 
it is food, force it down, and thus liberate the 
breathing ; should it be a hard substance, endeavor 
to hook it out ; if you cannot reach it, give a good 



CHOKING — TREATMENT. 477 

smart blow or two with the flat of the hand on 
the back ; or on the chest, taking- care to seize the 
little patient, and place him between your knees 
sidewise, and in this or some other manner com- 
press the abdomen, otherwise the blow will be lost 
by the yielding of the diaphragm and the respira- 
tory effort will not be produced. If that does not 
have the desired effect, tickle the throat with your 
finger, so as to insure immediate vomiting, and 
subsequent ejection of the offending substance. 

The bite of a dog or cat, especially the latter, is 
often venomous and difficult to heal. The best 
application is, to immediately cauterize the wound 
or wash the part with hartshorn, with a little 
water added, then apply a large hot white bread 
poultice to the part, and renew it every four hours. 
If there is much pain in the wound, foment the 
part, every time before applying the poultice, 
with a hot camomile and poppy-head fomentation. 
Scratches of a cat are best treated by freely smear- 
ing fresh butter on the part affected. If fresh 
butter is not at hand, fresh lard — lard without salt 
— will answer the purpose. If the pain of the 
scratch is intense, foment the part affected with 
hot water, then apply a hot white bread poultice, 
which should be frequently renewed. 

In case of a sting from a bee or wasp, extract the 
sting, if left behind, by means of a pair of forceps, 
or by the pressure of the hollow of a small key — a 
watch key will answer the purpose, wash with 
hartshorn and water, then the blue-bag (which is 



478 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

used in washing) moistened with water, should be 
applied to the part ; or a few drops of solution of 
potash, or apply moist tobacco, rubbing it well in, 
and renew from time to time. If either of these 
are not at hand, either honey, treacle, or fresh 
butter, will answer the purpose. Should there be 
much swelling or inflammation, foment the part 
with hot water, and apply a hot bread poultice. 

For abrasions of the skin, arnica court plaster 
will be found an excellent remedy. When wanted, 
cut a portion as large as may be requisite, moisten 
it with the tongue, in the same manner as you 
would a postage stamp, and apply it to the grazed 
part. It may be removed when necessary by 
simply wetting with water. The part in two or 
three days will be well. 

In case a child swallows either laudanum, paregoric, 
Godfrey s Cordial, or any other preparation of 
opium, give, as quickly as possible, a strong mus- 
tard emetic. Mix two teaspoonfuls of flour of 
mustard in half a teacupful of water, and force it 
down his throat. If free vomiting is not induced, 
tickle the upper part of the throat with a feather, 
drench the little patient's stomach with large 
quantities of warm water. As soon as it can be 
obtained from a druggist, give the following 
emetic : 

Take of — Sulphate of Zinc, one scruple; 

Simple Syrup, one dram; 

Distilled Water, seven drams. 
To make a draught. 



HOW TO REMOVE INSECTS FROM THE EAR. 479 

Slap his thighs and back ; walk, lead or carry 
him about in the fresh air ; shake him by the 
shoulders ; pull his hair, tickle his nostrils ; shout 
in his ears ; plunge him into a warm bath and then 
into a cold one alternately ; well sponge his head 
and face with cold water ; dash cold water on his 
head, face and neck ; and do not, on any account, 
until the effects of the opiates are gone, allow him 
to go to sleep ; if you do, he will never wake. 

If a child has put either a pea, bean, bead, 
cherry stone, or any other smooth substance, into 
his ear, turn his head on one side, in order to let 
the ear with the pea or bead in it be undermost, 
then give with the flat of your hand two or three 
sharp, sudden slaps or boxes on the other, ox upper- 
most ear, and most likely the offending substance 
will drop out. Poking at the ear will, in the 
majority of cases, only send the substance further 
in, and make it more difficult to remove. 

If an earwig, or any other living thing should 
get into the ear of a child, lay the child on his 
side, the affected ear being uppermost, and fill the 
ear, from a teaspoon, with either water or sweet 
oil. The water or oil will carry the insect out of 
the ear, and the child is at once relieved. Dr. B. 
F. Kinsley, U. S. A., relates a number of cases 
where soldiers sleeping on the plains have come to 
him to have bugs removed from their ears. Acci- 
dentally he discovered that by holding a lighted 
candle near the ear, the insects would at once 
leave the cavity and come forth. The patient 
should be in the dark when this is done. 



480 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

If a child swallows a piece of broken glass, avoid 
purgatives, as the free action of the bowels would 
be likely to force the spiculse of glass into the 
mucous membrane of the bowels, and thus would 
wound them, and might cause ulceration, and even 
death. The object of treatment will be to allow 
them to pass through the intestines well enveloped 
by other contents of the tube ; and for the purpose 
a solid, farinaceous diet should be ordered, and 
purgatives scrupulously avoided. If a child swal- 
lows a pin, treat him as for broken glass. Give 
him no aperients, or it might, in action, force the 
pin into the bowel. 

If a child swallows a coin of any kind, there is, as 
a rule, no danger. A dose or two of castor oil 
will be all that is usually necessary. The evacu- 
ations ought to be carefully examined until the 
coin is discovered. I once knew a child to swallow 
a penny piece and pass it in his stool. 

A mother can usually prevent her child from 
having an accident, by strict supervision over him 
on her own part, and by not permitting the child 
to be left to the tender mercies of servants ; by 
not allowing him to play with fire, to swing over 
banisters, and to have knives and playthings of a 
dangerous character ; to keep all poisonous articles 
and cutting instruments out of his reach ; and, 
above all, insisting, lovingly, affectionately, but 
firmly, upon implicit obedience. Accidents gen- 
erally arise from one of three causes: Either 
from wilful disobedience, from gross carelessness, 



GENERAL TREATMENT. 48 1 

or from downright folly. I quite agree with 
Davenant, that they do not arise from chance. 

Remarks on the management of a sick room. — In 
sickness, select a large and lofty room; if in the 
town, the back of the house will be preferable — in 
order to keep the patient free from noise and bustle 
— as a sick chamber cannot be kept too quiet. Be 
sure that there is a chimney in the room — as there 
ought to be in every room in the house — and that 
it is not stopped, as it will help to carry off the 
impure air of the apartment. Keep the chamber 
well ventilated, by opening the window from time 
to time. The air of the apartment cannot be too 
pure; therefore, let the evacuations from the 
bowels be instantly removed, either to a distant 
part of the house, to an outhouse, or to the cellar, 
as it may be necessary to keep them for the phy- 
sician's inspection. 

Before using either the night-commode, or the 
pot-de-chambre, let a little water be put in the pan, 
or cliambre, in order to sweeten the motion, and 
prevent the faecal matter from adhering to the 
vessel. Let there be frequent change of linen, as 
in sickness it is even more necessary than in health. 
Especially is this true if the complaint is fever. 
In an attack of fever, clean sheets ought to be put 
on the bed every other day ; clean body-linen 
every day. A frequent change of linen in sick- 
ness is most refreshing. 

If the complaint is fever, a fire in the grate 
will not be necessary. Should it be a case of in- 



482 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

flaramation of the lungs or of the chest, a small 
fire in the winter time is desirable, keeping the 
temperature of the room as nearly as possible at 
6o° Fahrenheit. Bear in mind that a large fire in 
a sick room cannot be too strongly condemned ; 
for if there is fever — and there are scarcely any 
complaints without — a large fire only increases it. 
Small fires encourage ventilation of the apartment, 
and thus carry off impure air. If it is summer 
time, fires would be improper. A thermometer is 
an indispensable requisite in a sick room. 

In fever, free and thorough ventilation is of 
vital importance, more especially in scarlet fever ; 
then a patient cannot have too much air. In 
scarlet fever, for the first few days, the windows, 
be it winter or summer, must be judiciously 
opened. The fear of the patient catching cold by 
doing so is one of the numerous prejudices and 
baseless fears that haunt the nursery, and the 
sooner it is exploded the better it will be for 
human life. 

If it is a case of measles, it will be necessary to 
adopt a different course ; then the windows ought 
not to be opened, but the door must from time to 
time be left ajar. In the case of measles, if it is 
winter time, a small fire in the room will be neces- 
sary. In inflammation of the lungs or of the chest, 
the windows should not be opened, but the door 
ought occasionally to be left unfastened, in order 
to change the air and make it pure. Remember 
that ventilation, either by open window or by open 



GENERAL TREATMENT. 483 

door, is in all diseases most necessary. Ventilation 
is one of the best friends a doctor has. 

In fever, do not load the bed with clothes ; in 
the summer a sheet is sufficient, in winter a sheet 
and a blanket. In fever do not be afraid of al- 
lowing the patient plenty of cold water or cold 
toast and water ; Nature will tell him when 
he has had enough. In measles, let the chill be 
taken off the toast and water. In croup, have al- 
ways ready a plentiful supply of hot water, in case 
a warm bath is required. In child-crowing, have 
always in the sick room a supply of cold water, 
ready at a moment's notice to dash upon the face. 

In fever, do not let the little patient lie on the 
lap ; he will rest more comfortably on a hair mat- 
tress in his crib or cot. ' If he has pain in the 
bowels, the lap is most agreeable to him ; the 
warmth of the body, either of the mother or of 
the nurse, soothes him ; besides, if he is on the 
lap, he can be turned on his stomach and on his 
bowels, which often affords him great relief and 
comfort. If he is much emaciated, when he is 
nursed, place a pillow upon the lap and let him lie 
upon it. 

In head affections, darken the room with a green 
blind ; keep the chamber more than usually quiet ; 
let what little talking is necessary be carried on in 
whispers, but the less of that the better ; and in 
head affections, never allow smelling salts to be ap- 
plied to the nose, as they only increase the flow of 
blood to the head, and consequently do harm. 



484 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

It is often a good sign for a child, who is 
seriously ill, to suddenly become cross. It is then 
he begins to feel his weakness and to give vent to 
his feelings. Children are almost always cross 
when recovering from an illness, however patient 
they may have been during its severest moments, 
and the phenomenon is not by any means confined 
to children. 

A sick child must not be stuffed with much food 
at a time. He will take a tablespoonful of new 
milk or a tablespoonful of chicken broth every 
half hour with greater advantage than a teacupful 
of one or the other every four hours. The large 
quantity would probably be rejected from his 
stomach, and may cause the unfortunately treated 
child to die of starvation. If a sick child is 
peevish, attract his attention by a toy or an orna- 
ment ; if he is cross, win him over to good humor 
by love, affection, and caresses, but let it be done 
gently and without noise. Do not let visitors see 
him; they will only excite, distract, and irritate 
him, and help to consume the oxygen of the at- 
mosphere, and thus rob the air of its exhilarating 
health-giving qualities and purity; a sick room, 
therefore, is not a proper place, either for visitors 
or for gossips. 

In selecting a sick nurse, let her be gentle, 
patient, cheerful, quiet, and kind, but firm withal. 
She ought to be neither old nor young. If she is 
old she is often garrulous and prejudiced, and 
thinks too much of her trouble ; it she is young, 



GENERAL TREATMENT. 485 

she is frequently thoughtless and noisy ; therefore 
choose a middle-aged woman. In the sick room 
do not let there be more than one efficient nurse 
besides the mother. A greater number can be of 
no service — they will only be in each other's way, 
and will distract the patient. 

Let stillness reign in a sick room. Creaking 
shoes and rustling silk dresses ought not to be 
worn in sick chambers — they are quite out of 
place there. If the child is asleep, or if he is doz- 
ing, perfect stillness must be enjoined, not even a 
whisper should be heard. 

If there are other children, let them be removed 
to a distant part of the house ; or, if the disease is 
of an infectious nature, send them away from home 
altogether. 

In an illness — and bear in mind the following is 
most important advice — a child must be encour- 
aged to try and urinate, whether he asks or not, at 
least four times during thetwenty-four hours ; and 
at any other time, if he express the slightest indi- 
cation to do so. I have* known a little fellow to 
hold his urine to his great detriment, for twelve 
hours, because either the mother had forgotten to 
inquire, or the child was too ill or too indolent to 
make the attempt. 

See that the doctor's directions are carried out 
to the very letter. Do not fancy that you know 
better than he does, otherwise you have no busi- 
ness to employ him. Let him have your implicit 
confidence and your exact obedience. What vou 



486 CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 

may consider to be a trifling matter, may fre- 
quently be of the utmost importance, and may 
sometimes decide whether the case shall end in 
life or death. 

Every mother should have a general idea of 
what the pulse of children of different ages should 
be in health and in disease. Every person should 
know how to ascertain the state of the pulse in 
health ; then, by comparing it with what it is when 
he is ailing, he may have some idea of the urgency 
of his case. Parents should know the healthy 
pulse of each child, since now and then a person is 
born with a peculiarly slow or fast pulse, and the 
very case in hand may be of such peculiarity. An 
infant's pulse is 140, a child of seven about 80, and 
from 20 to 60 years it is 70 beats a minute, declin- 
ing to 60 at fourscore. At 60, if the pulse always 
exceeds 70, there is a disease ; the machine work- 
ing itself out, there is a fever or inflammation 
somewhere, and the body is feeding on itself, as in 
consumption, when the pulse is quick. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



YOUTH. 



Standing with reluctant feet, 
Where the brook and river meet, 
Womanhood and childhood fleet. 

— Longfellow. 

Bathing. — Thorough ablution of the body every 
morning at least, is essential to health. I maintain 
that no one can be in the enjoyment of perfect 
health who does not keep the whole of the skin 
clean. In the absence of cleanliness, a pellicle 
forms on the skin which engenders disease. A 
person who does not keep his skin clean is more 
susceptible to contagious disease, such as small- 
pox, typhus fever, cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, 
etc. Besides, ablution is a delightful process ; it 
makes one feel fresh, sweet, young and healthy ; it 
makes the young look handsome, and the old look 
young. Thorough ablution may truly be said 
both to renovate and to rejuvenize. A scrupu- 
lously clean skin is one of the grand distinctive 
characteristics both of a lady and of a gentleman. 

It is important that parts that are covered 
should be kept cleaner than parts exposed to the 
air, as dirt is more apt to fester in dark places; be- 

(487) 



488 YOUTH. 

sides, parts exposed to the air have the advantage 
of the air's sweetening properties ; air acts as a 
bath, and purifies the skin amazingly. 

It is desirable to commence a complete system 
of bathing early in life, as it then becomes a second 
nature, and cannot afterward be dispensed with. 
One accustomed to morning ablution would feel 
most uncomfortable should anything prevent his 
taking it, and as soon think of dispensing with 
breakfast as with his bath. Where there is not a 
bathroom in the house, every boy, every girl, and 
every adult, ought each to have a room or a 
dressing-room to himself or to herself, in order that 
he or she may disrobe and thoroughly wash ; no 
one can wash properly and effectually without 
doing so. 

A little warm water may be added, to take off 
the chill. The body ought to be quickly dried, 
first with the wash cloth, and then the Turkish 
towel. In drying the back and loins throw the 
Turkish towel over the shoulders and move it a 
few times from side to side, until the parts are dry. 

A boy ought to wash his head every morning 
with soap and water, a girl, who has much hair, 
once a week. The hair, if not frequently washed, 
gets very dirty, and nothing is more repulsive than 
a dirty head. 

Let me strongly urge you to teach your sons 
and daughters to swim. Swimming is a glorious 
exercise — one of the best that can be taken ; it ex- 
pands the chest ; promotes digestion ; develops the 



SWIMMING AND BATHING. 489 

muscles, and brings into action some muscles that 
by any other form of exercise are but seldom 
brought into play ; it strengthens and braces the 
whole frame, and thus makes the swimmer resist 
the liability of catching cold ; it gives both boys 
and girls courage, energy, and self-reliance, splen- 
did qualities in this rough world of ours. Swim- 
ming is often the means of saving human life. This 
of itself would be a great recommendation of its 
value. It is a delightful amusement ; to breast the 
waves is as exhilarating to the spirits as clearing 
a five barred gate on horseback. The art of swim- 
ming is quite as necessary to be learned by a girl 
as a boy ; the former has similar muscles, lungs, 
and other organs to develop, as the latter. 

A boy, after using the cold bath, ought, if it 
agrees with him, to experience a pleasing glow 
over the whole surface of his body, his spirits and 
appetite should be increased, and he ought to feel 
stronger, but if it disagrees with him, a chilliness 
and coldness, a lassitude and a depression of spirits, 
will be the result, the face will be pale and the 
features pinched, and, in some instances, the lips 
and nails will become .blue. All these are signs 
that cold bathing is injurious, and that it ought on 
no account to be persevered in. A tepid bath may 
be taken at almost any time, and a bather may re- 
main longer in one, with safety, than in a cold bath. 

A warm bath may be occasionally used with 
advantage — say, once a week. A warm bath 
cleanses the skin more effectually than either a cold 



490 YOUTH. 

or a tepid bath, but, as it is more relaxing, ought 
not to be employed so often as either of them. A 
person should not continue longer than ten minutes 
in a warm bath. Once a week, as a rule, is quite 
often enough for a warm bath, and it would be an 
excellent plan if every boy and girl and adult 
would make a practice of having one regularly 
every week, unless some special reason should arise 
to forbid its use. 

A person, immediately after using a warm bath, 
should take proper precautions — that is, he must 
not expose himself to draughts, wash in cold water, 
or drink ice water. But he may follow his usual 
exercise or employment, providing the weather is 
fine. 

Management of the hair. — The best application 
for the hair is a sponge, cold water and two good 
hair brushes. Avoid oil, pomatum, bandoline, and 
all abominations of that kind. There is a natural 
oil of the hair, which is far superior to any other 
oil. The best odor for the hair is an occasional 
dressing of soap and water, the best beautifier of 
the hair is a downright thorough good brushing 
with two good hair brushes. Again, I say, avoid 
oil of all kinds for the hair. If the hair falls off, 
cocoanut oil is an excellent application, and can 
never do harm, which is more than can be said of 
many vaunted remedies. 

Clothing. — Flannel is as necessary in the summer 
as in the winter ; indeed, we are more likely to sit 
and stand in draughts in the summer than in the 



CLOTHING— CORSETS. 49I 

winter, and thus are more liable to become chilled 
and to take cold. Woolen shirts are very com- 
fortable and beneficial to health. They simplify 
the dress, as they supersede the necessity of wearing 
both flannel and linen, or flannel and calico shirts. 

Flannel sometimes produces great irritation of 
the skin ; to prevent it have a moderately fine 
flannel, and persevere in its use. The skin in a few 
days will bear it comfortably. The Angola and 
woven silk have been recommended as substitutes, 
but there is nothing equal to the old-fashioned 
Welsh flannel. On recovering from a severe 
attack of rheumatic fever, flannel next to the skin 
ought always to be worn winter and summer — 
flannel drawers, as well as a flannel vest. For 
winter the stockings ought to be of lambs wool or 
worsted ; it is absurd to wear cotton stockings all 
the year round. Boys and girls cannot be too 
particular in keeping their feet warm and dry, as 
cold, wet feet are one of the most frequent causes 
of bronchitis, sore throats and consumption. 

When should a girl begin to wear corsets? She 
ought never to wear them. Stays do not strengthen 
the body ; on the contrary, they weaken it. The 
pressure upon the muscles causes them to waste, 
so that in the end, a girl cannot do without them. 
The stays are then obliged to perform the duty of 
the wasted muscles. They weaken the lungs by in- 
terfering with their functions. Every inspiration 
is accompanied by a movement of the ribs. If 
this movement is impeded, the functions of the 



492 YOUTH. 

lungs are impeded likewise, and, consequently, 
disease is likely to follow, and either difficulty of 
breathing, cough or consumption may ensue. 
They weaken the heart's action, and thus frequently 
produce palpitation, and eventually organic or in- 
curable disease of the heart. They weaken the 
digestion by pushing down the stomach and liver, 
and by compressing the latter, and thus induce 
indigestion, flatulence and liver disease. They 
weaken the bowels by impeding their peristaltic 
motion, and thus produce either constipation or 
rupture. Is it not presumptuous to imagine that 
man can improve upon God's works, and that if 
more support had been required, the Almighty 
would not have given it. 

Girls and boys, especially the former, are too 
much confined within doors. It is imperatively 
necessary, if you wish them to be strong and 
healthy, that they should have plenty of fresh air 
and exercise. Remember, I mean fresh air — 
country air, not the close air of a town. By exer- 
cise, I mean the free unrestrained use of the limbs. 
In this respect girls are unfortunately wor.se off 
than boys. Although they have similar muscles 
to develop, similar lungs that require fresh air, and 
similar nerves that are to be braced and strength- 
ened, it is not considered lady-like to be natural. 
All their movements must be measured by rule 
and compass. The reason why so many young 
girls of the present day are so sallow, under-sized 
and ill-shaped, is for want of air and exercise. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSCLES. 493 

The best exercise for a youth is walking or run- 
ning- ; providing either of them is not carried to 
fatigue, — the slightest approach to it should warn 
a youth to desist from carrying it any further. 
Walking is not sufficiently insisted upon. A boy 
or girl, to be in the enjoyment of good health, 
ought to walk at least ten miles a day. I clo not 
mean ten miles at a stretch, but at different times 
of the day. Some young ladies think it an exceed- 
ingly long walk if they manage a couple of miles. 
With such exercise how can they expect to do 
well? How can their muscles be developed? 
How can their nerves be braced? How can their 
spines be strengthened, and be straight? How 
can their blood course merrily through their veins ? 
How can their chests expand and become strong? 
It is impossible ! Ill health must be the penalty of 
such indolence, for nature will not be trifled with ! 
Walking is the finest exercise that can be taken. 
It must be taken, and that without stint, if boys 
and girls are to be strong and well. Let me en- 
treat you then to insist upon your girls and boys 
taking plenty of exercise ; let them almost live in 
the open air ! Do not coddle them ; this is a rough 
world of ours, and they must rough it ; they must 
be knocked about a great deal, and the knocks will 
do them good. Poor youths who are tied, as it 
were, to their mother's apron strings, are much to 
be pitied ; they are usually puny and delicate, and 
effeminate, and utterly deficient in self-reliance. 

Riding on horseback is both an exercise and an 



494 YOUTH. 

amusement, and is peculiarly suitable for the fair 
sex, more especially as their modes of exercise are 
somewhat limited, ladies being excluded from fol- 
lowing many games, such as cricket and foot-ball, 
both of which are practiced with such zest and 
benefit by boys. 

In summer the best time of day for taking ex- 
ercise is early in the morning and before break- 
fast, as cool morning air exhilarates young blood 
like wine. If a boy cannot take exercise on an 
empty stomach, let him have a slice of bread and 
a glass of milk. When he returns he will be 
able to do justice to his breakfast. In fine weather 
he cannot take too much exercise, providing it is 
not carried to fatigue. He ought not to take exer- 
cise immediately after a hearty meal, say for half 
an hour after, or it will be likely to interfere with 
his digestion. 

Amusements. — The amusements most beneficial to 
health, are manly games — such as rowing, skating, 
cricket, quoits, foot-ball, rackets, single-stick, 
bandy, bowls, skittles, and all gymnastic exercises. 
Such games bring the muscles into proper action, 
and thus cause them to be fully developed. They 
expand and strengthen the chest ; they cause a due 
circulation of the blood, making it bound merrily 
through the bloodvessels, and thus diffuse health 
and happiness in its course. If games were more 
patronized in youth, so many miserable, nervous, 
useless creatures would not abound. Let a boy or 
girl have plenty of play ; let half the time be spent 
in play. 



AMUSEMENTS. 495 

First of all, make your boys and girls strong, 
by an abundance of exercise and fresh air, and 
then they will be ready and able to have their 
minds properly cultivated. Unfortunately, in this 
enlightened age, we commence at the wrong end 
— we put the cart before the horse — we begin by 
cultivating the mind, and we leave the body to be 
taken care of afterward ; the results are, broken 
health, precocious, stunted, crooked, and deformed 
youths, and premature decay. 

One great advantage of gymnastic exercise is, 
it makes the chest expand, it fills the lungs with 
air, and by doing so strengthens them amazingly, 
and wards off many diseases. The lungs are not 
sufficiently exercised and expanded ; boys and 
girls especially, as a rule, do not half fill their 
lungs with air; now air is food to the lungs, and 
portions of the lungs have not half their proper 
food, in consequence of which they suffer. 

It is very desirable that every boy and girl 
should go through a regular breathing exercise each 
day. They should be made to stand upright, 
throw back the shoulders, and alternately and reg- 
ularly fully fill and fully empty the lungs of air. 
II this plan were daily followed, devoting fifteen 
or twenty minutes to the exercise, the chest and 
lungs would be wonderfully invigorated, and the 
whole body benefited. 

Amusements for a girl. — Archery, skipping, 
lawn-tennis, horseback riding, hand-swing, and 
skating, are among the best. Archery expands 



496 YOUTH. 

the chest, throws back the shoulders, thus im- 
proving the figure, and developing the muscles. 
Skipping is exceedingly good exercise for a girl, 
every part of the body being put into action by it. 
Horseback riding is splendid for a girl ; it im- 
proves the figure amazingly — it is most exhila- 
rating and amusing; it also gives courage and 
makes her self-reliant. Croquet develops and im- 
proves the muscles of the arms, beautifies the 
complexion, strengthens the back, and throws out 
the chest. Croquet is for girls and women what 
cricket is for boys and men — a glorious game. 
Croquet has improved the health and happiness of 
womankind more than any game ever before in- 
vented. Skating is excellent exercise, it improves 
the figure, and makes a girl balance and carry her- 
self upright and well ; it is a most becoming ex- 
ercise, in every way to be commended. 

Choice of profession or trade. — If a youth is deli- 
cate, it is a common practice among parents either 
to put him to some light indoor trade, or if it can 
be afforded, to one of the learned professions. 
Such a practice is absurd and full of danger. 
The close confinement of an indoor trade is highly 
prejudicial to health. The hard reading requisite 
to fit a man to fill, for instance, the sacred office, 
only increases any delicacy of constitution. The 
stooping at a desk, in an attorney's office, is most 
trying to the chest. The harass, anxiety, dis- 
turbed nights, interrupted meals, and intense 
study necessary to fit a man for the medical pro- 



CHOICE OF A PROFESSION. 497 

fession, is still more dangerous to health than 
either law, divinity, or any indoor trade. If a boy 
is delicate or of consumptive habit, an outdoor 
calling should be advised, such as that of a farmer, 
a tanner, a land surveyor or a butcher. Tanners 
and butchers are seldom known to die of con- 
sumption. 

I cannot refrain from reprobating the too com- 
mon practice among parents of bringing up their 
boys to the professions. The anxieties and the 
heartaches which they undergo if they do not suc- 
ceed (and how can many of them succeed when 
there is such a superabundance of candidates?) 
materially injure the health. There is nothing so 
injurious for a delicate boy, or for any one else, as 
idleness. Work, in moderation, enlivens the spirits, 
braces the nerves, gives tone to the muscles, and 
strengthens the constitution. Of all miserable 
people, the idle boy, or idle man, is the most mis- 
erable. If you are poor, of course you will bring 
your boy up to some calling ; but if rich, and your 
boy is delicate, if you are wise you will bring him 
up to some trade or profession. Otherwise, you 
will be making a rod for your own as well as for 
your son's back. Oh, what a blessed thing is work! 

Fresh air during sleep is indispensable to health. — 
If a bedroom is close, the sleep, instead of being * 
calm and refreshing, is broken and disturbed; when 
the boy awakes in the morning, he feels more 
fatigued than when he retired to rest. If sleep is 
to be refreshing, the air must be pure, and free 
32 



498 YOUTH. 

from carbonic acid gas, which is constantly being 
evolved from the lungs. If the sleep is to be 
health-giving, the lungs ought to have oxygen — 
their proper food — and not to be cheated by giv- 
ing them instead a poison — carbonic acid gas. 

It would be well for each child to have a 
separate room himself. If two boys are obliged to 
sleep in one room, or if two girls are compelled 
to occupy the same chamber, by all means let each 
have a separate bed, as it is much more healthy 
and expedient for both boy and girl to sleep alone. 
Sleeping rooms are, generally, the smallest in the 
house, whereas, for health's sake, they ought to be 
the largest. 

Plants and flowers ought not to be allowed to 
remain in a chamber at night. Experiments have 
proved that plants and flowers in the daytime 
take up carbonic acid gas (the refuse of respira- 
tion), and give off oxygen (a gas so necessary 
and beneficial to health), but give out at night a 
poisonous exhalation. 

Early rising cannot «be too strongly insisted 
upon ; nothing is more conducive to health and 
thus to long life. A youth is frequently allowed 
to spend the early part of the morning in bed, 
breathing the impure atmosphere of a bedroom, 
when he should be up and inhaling the balmy and 
health-giving breezes of the morning. If early 
rising is commenced in childhood it becomes a 
habit, and will continue through life. A boy 
ought on no account to be roused from his sleep ; 



SLEEP— EARLY RISING. 499 

but, as soon as he is awake in the morning, he 
should be encouraged to rise. Dozing — that state 
between sleeping and waking — is injurious; it 
enervates both body and mind, and is as detri- 
mental to health as dram drinking. But if he rises 
early he must go to bed betimes ; it is a bad prac- 
tice to keep him up until the family retires to rest. 
He ought to seek his pillow by nine o'clock, and 
should rise as soon as he awakes in the morning. 

How many hours of sleep ought a boy to have ? — 
This will depend upon the exercise he takes ; but, 
on an average, he should have at least eight hours 
every night. It is a mistaken notion that a boy 
does better with little sleep. Infants, children, and 
youths require more than those who are further 
advanced in years. Old people can frequently do 
with little sleep. This may be accounted for from 
the quantity of exercise the young take. 

The teeth and gums should be well brushed 
with warm salt and water, in the proportion of one 
large teaspoonful of salt to a tumbler of water. 
The salt and water should be used every night. 

The following is an excellent tooth powder : 

Take of — Finely powdered Peruvian Bark; 
'' Prepared Coral; 
Prepared Chalk; 
Myrrh, oi each half an ounce; 
Orris root, a quarter of an ounce. 
Mix well together in a mortar, and preserve the powder in a 
wide mouthed stoppered bottle. 

The teeth ought to be well brushed with the 
above tooth powder every morning. 



500 YOUTH. 

If the teeth are much decayed, and the breath 
offensive, two ounces of finely powdered charcoal 
well mixed with the above ingredients will be 
found a valuable addition. Some persons clean 
their teeth every morning with soap ; if soap is 
used it ought to be Castile soap, and if the teeth 
are not white and clean, Castile soap is an excel- 
lent cleanser of the teeth, and may be used in 
place of the tooth powder as above recommended. 

Camphor ought never to be used as an ingre- 
dient of tooth powder, as it makes the teeth brittle. 
Camphor certainly has the effect of making the 
teeth look very white, but it is an evanescent 
beauty. 

Tartar is apt to accumulate between and around 
the teeth; it is better in such cases not to remove 
it by scaling instruments, but brush the teeth well 
with pure vinegar and water. 

A greater quantity of arterial blood is sent to 
the brain of those who are prematurely talented, 
and it thus becomes more than ordinarily de- 
veloped. Such advantages are not unmixed with 
danger ; this same arterial blood may excite and 
feed inflammation, and either convulsions, water 
on the brain, insanity, or idiocy may follow. How 
proud a mother is in having a precocious child. 
How little is she aware that precocity is fre- 
quently an indication of disease. 

It behooves a parent, if her son is precocious, to 
restrain him — to send him to a quiet country 
place, free from the excitement of the town, and 



PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN. 501 

when he is sent to school, to give directions \o 
the teacher that he is not on any account to tax his 
intellect (for a teacher is apt, if he has a clever 
boy, to urge him forward), and to keep him from 
those institutions where a spirit of rivalry is main- 
tained, and where the brain is thus kept in a state 
of constant excitement. Medals and prizes are 
well enough for those who have moderate abili- 
ties, but dangerous indeed to those who have 
brilliant ones. 

An overworked precocious brain is apt to 
cause the death of the owner, and if it does not, 
it, in too many instances, injures the brain irrep- 
arably, and the possessor of such an organ, from 
being one of the most intelligent of children, be- 
comes one of the most commonplace of men. Let 
me urge you, if you have a precocious child, to 
give, and that before it is too late, the subject in 
question your best consideration. 

Precocious boys in their general health are 
usually delicate. Nature seems to have given a 
delicate body to compensate for the advantages 
of a talented mind. A precocious youth is pre- 
disposed to consumption, more than to any other 
disease. The hard study which he frequently 
undergoes excites the disease into action. It is 
not desirable, therefore, to have a precocious 
child. 

Scrofula. — The child who has a moist, cold, 
fair, delicate and almost transparent skin, large 
prominent blue eyes, protuberant forehead, light 



502 YOUTH. 

brown or auburn hair, rosy cheeks, pouting lips, 
milk white teeth, long neck, high shoulders, small, 
flat and contracted chest, tumid bowels, large 
joints, thin limbs and flabby muscles, is the one 
most predisposed to scrofula. The disease is not 
entirely confined to the above, sometimes one who 
has black hair, dark eyes and complexion, is sub- 
ject to it, but yet far less frequently than the 
former. It is a remarkable fact that the most 
talented are the most prone to scrofula, and being 
thus clever their intellects are too often cultivated 
at the expense of their health. In infancy and 
childhood, either water on the brain or mesenteric 
disease , in youth, pulmonary consumption is fre- 
quently their doom ; they are like shining meteors, 
their life is short, but brilliant. 

Strict attention to the rules of health is the 
means to prevent scrofula. Books, unless as an 
amusement, ought to be discarded. The patient 
must live in the open air, and his residence should 
be a healthy country place, where the air is dry 
and bracing ; if it is at a farm house, in a salubrious 
neighborhood, so much the better. In selecting a 
house for a patient predisposed to scrofula, good 
pure water should be an important requisite ; indeed, 
for every one who values his health. Early rising 
is most beneficial. Beefsteaks and mutton chops 
in abundance, and plenty of milk and farinaceous 
food — such as rice, sago, arrowroot, etc., should be 
the diet. 

Scrofula, if the above rules are strictly and per- 



SCROFULA — TREATMENT. 503 

severingly followed, may be warded off, but there 
must be no half measures, no trying to serve two 
masters — to cultivate at the same time the health 
and the intellect. The brain must not be taxed 
until the body becomes strong. " You may pre- 
vent scrofula by care, but that some children are 
originally predisposed to the disease there cannot 
be the least doubt, and in such cases the education 
and habits of the youth should be so directed as to 
ward off a complaint, the effects of which are so 
frequently fatal." 

Suppose the disease to be already formed, the 
plan recommended above must still be pursued, 
not by fits and starts, but steadily and continuously, 
for it is a complaint that requires a vast amount of 
patience and great perseverance. Sea bathing in 
such cases is generally most beneficial. 

Do not allow any plan to be adopted that will 
weaken the system, which is already too much de- 
pressed. Rather build up the body by good 
nourishing diet, and by a dry, bracing atmosphere. 
Let no active purging, no mercurials, ho violent, 
desperate remedies be allowed. If the patient 
cannot be cured without them, I am positive that 
he will not be cured with them. But do not de- 
spair ; many scrofulous patients are cured by time 
and judicious treatment. But if desperate reme- 
dies are to be used, the poor patient had better by 
far be left to nature. 

A girl ought never to be allowed to stoop; stooping 
spoils the figure, weakens the chest, and interferes 



504 YOUTH. 

with the digestion. If she cannot help stooping, 
you may depend upon it that she is in bad health, 
and calisthenic and gymnastic exercises should be 
resorted to. Horseback riding and swimming are 
very beneficial. The girl should live well, on good 
nourishing diet, and not be too closely confined to 
the house or her lessons. She ought to sleep on a 
hair mattress, and during the day lie flat on her 
back on a reclining board for two or three hours. 
Stooping, if neglected, is very apt to lead to con- 
sumption. 

If a boy is round shouldered, let him be drilled ; 
there is nothing more likely to benefit him than 
drilling. You never see a soldier round shoul- 
dered or slouchy in his gait. He walks every 
inch a man. Look at the difference in appearance 
between a country bumpkin and a soldier. It is 
the drilling that makes the difference. 

Spitting blood is always to be looked upon with 
suspicion ; even when a youth appears, in other re- 
spects, to be in good health, it is frequently the 
forerunner of consumption. It may be said that, 
by mentioning the fact, that I am unnecessarily 
alarming a parent, but it would be a false kindness 
if I did not do so: 

"I must be cruel, only to be kind." — Shakespeare. 

Let me ask, when is consumption to be cured ? 
Is it at the onset, or is it when it is confirmed ? If 
a mother had been more generally aware that spit- 
ting blood was frequently the forerunner of con- 



CONSUMPTION — SYMPTOMS. 505 

sumption, she would have taken far greater pre- 
cautions in the management of her offspring, she 
would have made everything give wav to the pres- 
ervation of health, and, in many instances, she 
would have been amply repaid by having the 
lives of her children spared to her. Consumption 
more frequently shows itself between the ages of 
fourteen and twenty-one, after that the liability of 
the disease gradually diminishes, until at the age 
of forty-five it becomes comparatively rare. Boys 
are more prone to this complaint than girls. It 
may be well for a parent to recognize the symp- 
toms in order that she may seek aid early. It is 
perfectly hopeless to expect to cure consumption, 
unless advice is sought at the onset, as the only 
effectual good in this disease is to be done at first. 

Consumption creeps on insidiously. One of the 
earliest symptoms of this dreadful scourge is a 
slight, dry, short cough, attended with tickling 
and irritation at the top of the throat. This cough 
generally occurs through the day. Frequently 
during the early stage of the disease a slight spit- 
ting of blood occurs. This is a most dangerous 
symptom ; indeed, it is almost a sure sign that the 
patient is in the first stages of consumption. 

There is usually hoarseness, not constant, but 
coming on if the patient is tired, or toward the 
evening. There is also a sense of lassitude and 
depression, shortness of breath, a feeling of weari- 
ness on the slightest exertion. The hair of a con- 
sumptive person usually falls off, and what little 



506 YOUTH. 

remains is weak and poor; the joints of the fingers 
become enlarged, or clubbed as it is sometimes 
called ; the patient loses flesh, and, after some 
time, night sweats* make their appearance, then we 
may know that hectic fever has commenced. 

Hectic fever begins with chilliness, which is 
soon followed by flushings of the face and burning 
of the hands and feet, especially of the palms and 
soles. This is soon succeeded by perspirations. 
The patient has generally two decided paroxysms 
of hectic fever during the day, one at noon which 
lasts about five hours ; the other in the evening, 
which is more severe, and ends in violent perspira- 
tions ; these perspirations continue the whole night 
through. During the day he may have several 
attacks of hectic flushes, especially after eating ; at 
one moment he complains of being too hot, and 
rushes to the cool air ; the next moment he is too 
cold, and almost scorches himself by sitting too 
near the fire. Whenever the circumscribed hectic 
flush is on the cheek, it looks as though the cheek 
had been painted with vermillion, then is the time 
when the palms of the hands are burning hot. 

The expectoration at first is merely mucus, but 
after a time it assumes a characteristic appearance ; 
it has a roundish, flocculent, woolly form, each por- 
tion of phlegm keeping, as it were, distinct ; and if 
the expectoration is stirred in water, it has a milk- 
like appearance. The patient is commonly harassed 
by frequent bowel complaints, which rob him of 
what little strength he has left. The feet and 



CONSUMPTION — CAUSES— TREATMENT. 507 

ankles swell. The perspiration comes on in the 
evening, and continues all night — more especially 
toward morning, and while the patient is asleep. 
During the time he is awake, even at night, he 
seldom sweats much. The thrush generally shows 
itself toward the close of the disease, attacking 
the tongue, tonsils, and soft palate, and is a sure 
harbinger of approaching death. Emaciation rapidly 
sets in. 

The predisposing causes of consumption are the 
tuberculous habit of body, hereditary predispo- 
sition, narrow or contracted chest, deformed spine, 
delicacy of constitution, bad and scanty diet, or 
food containing but little nourishment, impure air, 
close indoor confinement in schools, shops, and 
factories, ill-ventilated apartments, dissipation, 
late hours, overtaxing the growing brain with 
book-learning, thus producing debility, want of 
proper outdoor exercises and amusements, tight 
lacing ; indeed, anything and everything that will 
debilitate the constitution, interfere with, or im- 
pede, the proper action of the lungs, will be the 
predisposing causes of this fearful and lamentable 
disease. 

An ill, poor, and insufficient diet is the mother 
of many diseases, and especially of consumption : 
" Whatsoever was the father of a disease, an ill 
diet was the mother." The most common ex- 
citing causes of consumption are slighted colds, 
neglected inflammation of the chest, long contin- 
uance of influenza, sleeping in damp beds, allowing 



508 YOUTH. 

wet clothes to dry on the body, unhealthy em- 
ployments, etc. 

Treatment. — The health should be the first con- 
sideration^ throw books to the winds ; if he is at 
school, take him away ; if he is in trade, cancel his 
indentures ; if he is in town, send him to a sheltered 
healthy spot in the country. I should be par- 
ticular in his clothing, taking especial care to keep 
his chest and feet warm. If he does not already 
wear flannel, let it be winter or summer, I should 
recommend him immediately to do so. The feet 
must be carefully attended to ; they ought to be 
kept both warm and dry, the slightest dampness 
of either shoes or stockings should cause them to 
be immediately changed. If a boy, he ought to 
wear double-breasted waistcoats ; if a girl, high 
dresses. 

The diet must be nutritious and generous ; the 
patient should be encouraged to eat plentifully of 
beef and mutton. There is nothing better for 
breakfast, where it agrees, than milk ; indeed, it 
may be frequently made to agree b}^ previously 
boiling it. Good home-brewed ale or sound porter 
ought to be taken in moderation. Wine and spirits 
must on no account be allowed. I caution parents 
in this particular, as many have an idea that wine 
is strengthening, and that rum and milk is a good 
thing to cure or prevent a cough. 

If it is summer, let him be much in the open 
air, avoiding the evening and the night air. If it 
is winter, he should, unless the weather is mild for 



SORE THROAT — TREATMENT. 509 

the season, keep within doors. Particular atten- 
tion ought to be paid to the point the wind is in, 
as he should not be allowed to go out if it is north, 
east, or northeast ; the latter is more especially 
dangerous. 

If a youth is predisposed to a sore throat, he must 
use every morning thorough ablution of the body, 
beginning cautiously ; that is, commencing with 
the neck one morning, then by degrees, morning 
after morning, sponging a larger surface, until the 
whole of the body is sponged. The chill at first 
must be taken off the water; gradually the tem- 
perature ought to be lowered until the water is 
quite cold, taking care to rub the body thoroughly 
dry with a coarse towel — a Turkish rubber being 
the best for the purpose. 

He ought to bathe his throat externally every 
night and morning with lukewarm salt and water, 
the temperature of which must be gradually re- 
duced, until at length no warm water is added. 
He should gargle his throat either with barm, 
vinegar, and sage tea, or with salt water — two 
teaspoonfuls of table salt dissolved in a tumbler of 
water. He ought to harden himself by taking 
plenty of exercise in the open air. He must avoid 
sitting or standing in a draught ; if in one, he 
should face it. He ought to keep his feet warm 
and dry. He should take as little laxative med- 
icine as possible, avoiding especially both calomel 
and blue pill. As he grows up to manhood he 
ought to allow his beard to grow, as such would 



5IO YOUTH. 

be a natural covering for his throat. I have 
known great benefit to arise from this simple plan. 
The finest respirator in the world is the beard. 
The beard is not only good for sore throats, but 
for weak chests. The wearing of the beard is a 
splendid innovation ; it saves no end of trouble, is 
very beneficial to health, and is a great improve- 
ment to the human face divine. 

I consider tobacco smoking one of the most injur- 
ious and deadly habits a boy or young man can 
indulge in. It contracts the chest and weakens 
the lungs, thus predisposing to consumption. It 
impairs the stomach, producing indigestion. It 
debilitates the brain and nervous system, inducing 
epileptic fits and nervous depression. It stunts 
the growth, and is one cause of the present race 
of pigmies. It makes the young lazy and disin- 
clined to work. It is one of the greatest curses of 
the present day. 

Nose-bleed. — Unless it is violent, do not interfere 
with a bleeding from the nose. A bleeding from 
the nose is frequently an effort of Nature to relieve 
itself, and unless it is likely to weaken the patient, 
ought not to be restrained. If it is necessary to 
restrain the bleeding, press the nose firmly be- 
tween the finger and thumb for a few minutes, 
this alone will often stop the bleeding ; if it should 
not, then try what bathing the nose, forehead and 
nape of the neck with water quite cold from the 
well, will do, or try the effect of a solution of 
alum. 



FAINTING — TREATMENT. 5 1 1 

Take of — Powdered Alum, one dram. 
Water, half a pint. 
To make a lotion. 

A little of the lotion should be put into the 
palm of the hand and sniffed up the bleeding- 
nostril. If this does not succeed, some of the 
lotion ought to be syringed up the nose. 

In case a young lady faints, lay her flat upon her 
back, taking care that the head is as low, if not 
lower, than the body ; throw open the windows, 
do not crowd around her, unloosen her dress as 
quickly as possible ; ascertain if she has been 
guilty of tight lacfng — for fainting is sometimes 
produced by that reprehensible practice. Apply 
smelling salts to her nostrils ; it they are not at 
hand, burn a piece of cloth under her nose ; dash 
cold water upon her face ; throw open the window ; 
fan her ; and do not, as is generally done, crowd 
around her, and thus prevent a free circulation of 
air. As soon as she can swallow, give her a draught 
of cold water or a teaspoonful of sal-volatile in a 
wine glass of water. 

To prevent fainting. — I would recommend early 
hours ; country air and exercise ; the stays, if worn 
at all, to be worn slack ; attention to diet ; avoid- 
ance of excitement and fashionable entertainments. 

Sometimes the cause of a young lady fainting, 
is either a disordered stomach or a constipated 
state of the bowels. If the fainting has been 
caused by a disordered stomach, it may be neces- 
sary to stop the supplies, and give the stomach, for 



512 YOUTH. 

a day or two, but little to do ; a fast will frequently 
prevent the necessity of giving medicine. 

A young lady's fainting occasionally arises from 
debility — from downright weakness of the consti- 
tution; then the best remedy will be change of 
air, good nourishing diet, and the following 
strengthening mixture : 

Take of — Tincture of Perchloride of Iron, two drams; 
Tincture of Calumbo, six drams; 
Distilled Water, seven ounces. 
Two tablespoonfuls of this mixture to be taken three times a day. 

Or, for a change, the following : 

Take of — Wine of Iron, one ounce and a half; 
Distilled Water, six ounces and a half. 
To make a mixture. Two tablespoonfuls to be taken three times 
a day. 

Iron medicines ought always to be taken after 
instead of before a meal. The best times of the 
day for taking either of the above mixtures will 
be eleven o'clock, four o'clock, and seven o'clock. 

Constipation. — If you find it necessary to give 
your son or daughter an aperient, the mildest 
should be selected ; for instance, an agreeable and 
effectual one, is an electuary composed of figs, 
raisins and senna, a formula for which may be 
found on page 113. But after all, the best laxatives 
are — cold ablutions every morning, of the whole 
body ; attention to diet ; variety of food ; Graham 
bread, grapes, figs, fruit both cooked and raw — if 
it is ripe and sound ; oatmeal porridge ; vegetables 
of all kinds, especially spinach ; exercise in the 
open air ; early rising ; daily visiting the water 



HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 513 

closet at a certain hour — there is nothing keeps 
the bowels open so regularly and well as estab- 
lishing the habit of visiting the water closet at a 
certain hour every morning; and the other rules 
of health specified in these pages. If more atten- 
tion were paid to these points, poor school boys 
and school girls would not be compelled to swallow 
such nauseous and disgusting messes as they 
usually do, to their aversion and injury. 

Should these plans not succeed, I would advise 
an enema once or twice a week, either simply of 
warm water, or of one made of gruel, table salt 
and olive oil, in the proportion of two tablespoon- 
fuls of table salt, two of oil and a pint of warm 
gruel, which a boy may administer to himself, or a 
girl to herself, by means of a fountain syringe. 

Hydropathy is oftentimes very serviceable in 
preventing and in curing constipation ; and as it will 
sometimes prevent the necessity of administering 
medicine, it is both a boon and a blessing. Hydro- 
pathy also supplies us with various remedies for 
constipation. From the simple glass of cold water, 
taken early in the morning, to the various douches 
and sea baths, a long list of useful appliances 
might be made out, among which we mention the 
wet compresses worn for three hours over the 
abdomen with an oil-cloth covering. For a more 
complete treatment of this subject, the reader is 
referred to the chapter on constipation. 

I have here a word or two to say to a mother 
who is always physicking her family. It is an un- 
33 



514 YOUTH. 

natural thing to be constantly dosing either a child 
or any one else with medicine. One would sup- 
pose that some people were only sent into the 
world to be physicked. If more care were paid 
to the rules of health, very little medicine would 
be required. This is a bold assertion, but I am 
confident that it is a true one. It is a strange ad- 
mission for a doctor to make, but, nevertheless, 
my convictions compel me to avow it. 

The principal reason why girls suffer more from 
constipation than boys, is that their habits are 
more sedentary. The best laxative medicines in 
the world are an abundance of exercise, muscular 
exertion and fresh air. Another, and a frequent 
cause, is the bad habit of disobeying the calls of 
nature. The moment there is the slightest incli- 
nation to relieve the bowels, instantly it ought to be 
attended to, or serious results will follow. Let me 
urge a mother to instil into her daughter's mind 
the importance of this advice. 

Young people are subject to pimples on the face. — 
These hard red pimples are a common and an ob- 
stinate affection of the skin, affecting the forehead, 
temples, the nose, chin, and cheeks ; occasionally 
attacking the neck, shoulders, back, and chest. As 
they more frequently affect the young, and are 
disfiguring, they cause much annoyance. I find, 
in these cases, great benefit from bathing the face, 
night and morning, with strong salt and water — a 
tablespoonful of table salt to a teacupful of water ; 
paying attention to the bowels ; living on plain, 



GU MBOIL — CORNS — TREATMENT. 5 1 5 

wholesome, nourishing food ; and taking a great 
deal of outdoor exercise. Sea bathing is often 
very beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal 
antipathy to salt. 

Gumboil. — A decayed root of a tooth causes in- 
flammation and abscess of the gum, which abscess 
breaks, and becomes a gumboil. 

Treatment. — Foment the outside of the face 
with a hot camomile and poppy head fomentation, 
and apply to the gumboil, between the cheek and 
the gum, a small white bread and milk poultice, 
which renew frequently. As soon as the gumboil 
has become quiet, by all means have the affected 
tooth extracted, or it may cause disease, and con- 
sequently serious injury of the jaw. Whenever 
the patient catches cold there will be a renewal of 
the inflammation of the abscess, and the gumboil, 
and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, 
and annoyance. Decayed fangs of teeth often 
cause the breath to be offensive. 

Corns. — The best remedy for a hard corn is to 
remove it. The usual method of cutting, or of 
paring a corn away is erroneous. The following 
is the right way: Cut with a sliarp pair of pointed 
scissors around the circumference of the corn. 
Work gradually round and round and toward the 
center. When you have well loosened the edges, 
you can either with your ringers or with a pair of 
forceps, generally remove the corn bodily, and 
that without pain and the loss of any blood. This 
plan of treating a corn I can recommend to you as 
being most effectual. 



5l6 YOUTH. 

The corns between the toes are called soft corns. 
A soft corn is quickly removed by the strong acetic 
acid, which ought to be applied to the corn every 
night by means of a camel's hair brush. The toes 
should be kept asunder for a few minutes, in order 
that the acid may soak in ; then apply between the 
toes a small piece of cotton. 

In the generality of cases the plans recom- 
mended above will effect a cure, but if from pres- 
sure or from any other cause the corn should 
return, remove it again, and proceed as before 
directed. If the corn has been caused by tight or 
ill fitting shoes, the only way to prevent a recur- 
rence is to have the shoes properly made by a 
clever shoemaker — by one who thoroughly under- 
stands his business, and who will have a pair of 
lasts made purposely for the feet. 

The best remedy for tender, sweaty, or smelling 
feet, is cold water. Bathe the feet in cold water, 
beginning with tepid water ; but gradually from 
day to day reducing the warm until the water is 
quite cold. A large nursery basin one-third full 
of water ought to be placed on the floor, and one 
foot at a time should be put in the water, washing 
the foot with a sponge and the thumb between 
each toe. Each foot should remain in the water 
about half a minute after each washing. The feet 
ought to be well dried, taking care to dry with the 
towel between each toe. The above process must 
be repeated at least once every day — every morn- 
ing, and if the annoyance is great, every night as 



THE CONVALESCENT. 5 1? 

well. A clean pair of stockings ought to be put 
on daily, as perfect cleanliness is absolutely neces- 
sary to afford relief, and effect a cure. 

There is something charming and delightful in 
the feelings of a patient recovering from a severe 
illness ; it is like a new birth ; it is almost worth 
the pains and anguish of having been ill to feel 
quite well again ; everything around and about 
wears a charming aspect — a roseate hue ; the ap- 
petite for food returns with pristine vigor ; the 
viands, be they ever so homely, never tasted 
before so deliciously sweet; and a draught of 
water from the spring has the flavor of ambrosial 
nectar ; the convalescent treads the ground as 
though he were on the ambient air ; and the earth 
to him for a while is Paradise ; the very act of liv- 
ing is a joy and gladness. 




CHAPTER XV. 

DISEASES OF WOMEN. 



Metritis or Chronic Inflammation of the Womb, — 
Of all uterine diseases in importance and frequence, 
chronic inflammation ranks first. It is most com- 
mon between the ages of puberty and the cessation 
of the menses, but it may occur at any time of life. 
This inflammation may be simple or complicated, 
but a vast majority of so-called " female com- 
plaints" have their origin in acute inflammation of 
the womb, which soon passes into the chronic form 
by the persistence of the cause. 

No class or nation is exempt from the baneful 
influence of this disease — but it is met most fre- 
quently among women reared in indolence and 
luxury whose physical conditions are weakened by 
prevailing fashions and customs. 

Poverty and privation also furnish a long ar- 
ray of victims — while those who best observe the 
laws of health are most exempt from the disease. 

There are many varieties of the disease, and 
each receives its name according to the part 
affected, thus : Inflammation of the body of the womb ; 
Inflammation of the lining membrane of the body 
of the womb ; Inflammation of the membrane lining 

(518) 






INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB. 5 19 

and covering neck of the womb; Inflammation of 
the tissues of the neck of the womb ; Ulceration of 
the neck of the womb. 

The womb consists of a body and neck which 
may be considered as two distinct organs in their 
anatomical structure, the former being composed 
of longitudinal fibers, while those of the neck are 
circular, and each receive their supply of blood- 
vessels and nerves from different sources. There- 
fore, a diseased condition of the neck of the womb 
does not necessarily imply a similar condition in 
the body, and vice versa. Inflammation of the 
body of the womb is liable to be very persistent, 
as usually the adjoining lining membranes are also 
involved. 

In a w r ork of this kind it is not necessary to 
enter into a minute detail of all the symptoms of 
each: variety of uterine disease, as any variety in a 
severe form would require a personal examination 
by a proficient and experienced physician. The 
design of this work is, in a general way, to en- 
lighten mothers and daughters in regard to the 
symptoms attending uterine disorders, their pre- 
vention and the remedies to be used for their cure 
in home practice. The symptoms attending dis- 
eases of the womb are so similar that accuracy is 
not necessary for the general reader. 

Symptoms. — All inflammations are accompanied 
with more or less pain and swelling — the degree of 
which is materially modified by the location of the 
disease. 



$20 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Often an inflammation of the neck of the womb 
may exist for a period of years, especially in the 
unmarried, without giving any great discomfort- 
more than a feeling of lassitude, with an inability 
to stand erect or walk for any length of time. 
More or less whites or leucorrhcea will be noticed. 
Menstrual disorders may follow — the discharge 
being too profuse or too scanty, and attended with 
more or less pains. These latter symptoms follow 
as the disease becomes more chronic. This disease 
is not apt to exist very long before a general im- 
pairment of the health will result. The patient 
becomes restless and wakeful, with loss of appetite 
and enfeebled digestion, pale and nervous. An 
inflammation of the body of the womb is attended 
with a sensation of weight and fullness in the 
pelvic region — pain in the back and hips. The 
pain in the back is often attributed to a " kidney 
trouble." Plasters are applied and potions vainly 
taken for its relief. If the kidneys are overtaxed 
and painful, the seat of the pain is in the small of 
the back or under the waist line, while if the pain 
is the result of female diseases, it is located fully a 
hand's breadth below this line. 

As the inflammation progresses the feeling of 
weight and heaviness increases till the pain ex- 
tends down the limbs and through the bowels. 
Physical exertion is painful, and at times almost 
impossible. 

Leucorrhcea is a frequent symptom of inflamma- 
tion of the womb, yet unaccompanied by other 



INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB — SYMPTOMS. 52 1 

symptoms would be of little value in establishing 
the fact of inflammation of the womb, as the leu- 
corrhcea may proceed from an irritable condition 
of the vagina or the external generative organs — 
or it may be catarrhal from a cold. 

In chronic inflammation of the body as well as 
of the neck of the womb, the menstrual flow is 
usually impaired somewhat. 

The periods may occur too often, or be tardy, 
or painful and too prolonged. Sterility often fol- 
lows a severe inflammation of either the body or 
neck of the uterus — and sexual intercourse is at- 
tended with more or less pain, according to the 
degree of inflammation. If the disease is of long 
standing, other organs of the abdomen and pelvis 
are liable to beeome involved. Chronic inflam- 
mation of the womb often produces a severe in- 
flammation of the vagina, which may be recognized 
by a profuse, milky, leucorrhceal discharge. 

The ovaries are supplied by the same system 
of bloodvessels, and readily inflame when there is 
an increased action of the uterus. 

Ovarian tumors are often the result of a pro- 
longed inflammation of the womb. Catarrhal dis- 
charges from the bowels, and piles or hemorrhoids 
may follow inflammation of the womb, especially 
when there is retroversion or a falling backward 
of the body of the womb. It is apparent that the 
cause must be removed before the disease will dis- 
appear. The restoration to health of each organ 
involved, will necessarily be slow, and great pa- 
tience will be required. 



522 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Distant organs sympathize with a serious dis- 
ease of the womb. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, 
vomiting, pain at the base of the brain, pain over 
the eyes, a feeling that the reason is leaving, and a 
whole train of nervous disorders manifest them- 
selves. 

The condition of the stomach may be that of 
pregnancy. Digestion is much impaired, and in 
consequence of it an accumulation of gas in the 
bowels may simulate the movements of a child, 
misleading the patient to suppose she is pregnant. 
Time will convince her that she is not. This sub- 
ject has been fully treated under the head of 
Flatulence, and a reference to that section will en- 
able her to determine the true condition. 

Chronic inflammation of the womb, when of 
long standing, greatly impairs, if not wholly de- 
stroys the general health. The circulation is slug- 
gish, the hands and feet are cold, the face wears 
an anxious expression, the muscles become weak 
and easily tire with only moderate use. The dis- 
position becomes irritable and nervous — a slight 
provocation being sufficient to bring on an attack 
of hysteria. The wnole temperament and dispo- 
sition seems changed. Friends are regarded with 
distrust, and therefore avoided. The patient be- 
comes morbidly sensitive, and always looks upon 
the dark side of life. She broods over her mala- 
dies, and is never so much u at home" as when 
relating her experiences to others. Any apparent 
lack of sympathy is sure to give offence, and unless 



INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB — SYMPTOMS. 523 

the disease is cured, the situation becomes ap- 
palling- to the patient and her family. After years 
of suffering the patient takes her bed because she 
lacks the strength or courage to longer battle with 
the disease. Death seldom hastens to her relief 
unless there are hereditary complications — such as 
consumption, scrofula or cancer. There is no 
possible doubt that many cases of insanity among 
women have their origin in some form of uterine 
disease. It is common for women to feel solicitous 
as to the result of the menopause or " change of 
life," as it is regarded usually as a critical period 
in a woman's life. It is a natural and orderly step 
in life, and with a previous due regard to the laws 
of health, should be as little attended with danger 
as our birth or the stage of puberty. Women of a 
hopeful disposition are usually benefited by " the 
change," especially if they have borne many chil- 
dren. It is to them a period of rest. It is always 
advisable to maintain a hopeful disposition. To 
dwell upon our physical condition only makes the 
disease more persistent. 

The picture is not a cheerful one that we have 
submitted for your consideration, but it is one 
daily met with in a physician's life. Many cases of 
womb disease are permitted to become chronic, 
through the ignorance of the patient as to the cause 
of her ailments or because she feels a delicacy in 
consulting a physician and obtaining the needed 
advice or treatment that would have saved her 
years of suffering. In all cases of female disorders 



524 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

when the patient is uncertain as to the cause or the 
remedy, she should not hesitate to place herself in 
the hands of a skillful physician for a thorough 
examination as soon as the first symptoms of the 
disorder appear. " An ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of cure " is a wise adage. 

The causes which may lead to the development 
of uterine disorders are many — such as a sudden 
checking of the menses from exposure to cold — an 
injection of cold water when in an over-heated 
condition — lifting too heavy weights — falls and 
blows across the abdomen — any of these may be 
the exciting causes of serious uterine derangement. 
The predisposing cause may exist in an inherited 
weakly constitution. 

Another fruitful source of uterine disorder is 
wearing improper clothing. The fashionably 
dressed woman of this age can scarcely escape 
becoming, sooner or later, a victim of disease. A 
young lady in "full dress" is a sad picture to a 
thoughtful mind. The waist is compressed to the 
smallest possible dimension, pressing every organ 
out of its proper position. The neck, shoulders 
and arms subjected to all vicissitudes of weather — 
the weight of the clothing is borne by the hips and 
abdomen instead of being borne by the shoulders, 
as it ought to be. The wonder is that any woman 
fails to reap the full harvest of her folly. The free 
circulation of the blood through the body is im- 
peded by tight lacing, and congestion of the organs 
of the pelvis follow as a result. Any cause that pro- 



INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB — CAUSES. 525 

duces stagnation of the blood, developes in time 
congestion and relaxation. For example — fasten a 
rubber band around the arm, only moderately tight, 
and in a short time the hand begins to swell and con- 
gest by reason of the inability of the veins to return 
the blood to the arteries — serious results will fol- 
low if the congestion is prolonged. When the 
clothing is removed there is a sense of relief, and 
nature strives to regain her lost ground, but a daily 
repetition of the abuses soon overcomes all power 
to react, and hopeless disease is fastened upon the 
victim. 

Debility. — Any cause which leads to a general 
weakness of the muscles of the abdomen predis- 
poses to diseases of the womb, especially to flexions 
and inflammation. 

If the health is impaired, the muscles and liga- 
ments supporting the womb and bowels sympa- 
thize in the general debility. Women of health 
who lead lives of ease and luxury, eat unwhole- 
some food at unreasonable hours, and who cultivate 
the mental rather than the physical, are particu- 
larly predisposed to female complaints. 

In such instances comparatively trifling causes, 
such as a day of unusual excitement or exercise — 
a sudden cold — a slight imprudence during the 
menstrual period, may be sufficient to plunge the 
victim into years of suffering. Displacements 
easily occur in relaxed conditions of the abdominal 
muscles. Displacements are reasonably sure to be 
followed by inflammations and congestions. 



526 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Exercise. — Regular daily exercise in walking or 
horseback riding is essential to the proper develop- 
ment of the abdominal muscles. Those muscles 
play an important part in the support of the uterus, 
and any exercise that will develop their strength 
lessens the liability to uterine disease. The exer- 
cises recommended in the chapter on constipation 
will be found equally efficacious in uterine diseases. 
The wonderful mental activity of women of this 
age, except in the lower classes, is greatly dispro- 
portionate to their physical ability. The result is, 
women are weak and sickly — incapable of becom- 
ing mothers of healthy, well-developed children. 
So called female complaints were hardly known to 
our grandmothers, but now the per cent, of wo- 
men afflicted with uterine disease, in one form or 
another, is found to average fully seven out of 
every ten. 

With this array of facts before us, it behooves 
mothers and daughters to study well the symp- 
toms of disease — the causes that lead to their 
development, as well as the means of their preven- 
tion. If one-tenth the effort was put forth to en- 
lighten women on these vital questions upon which 
depend the future of our race, that is displayed to 
teach women that they need the elective franchise, 
we might then develop a race of women who 
would be gladly admitted to legislative halls, be- 
cause their combined physical and intellectual 
strength would be well adapted to give counsel 
and aid in the affairs of the nation. Let women 



INFLAMMATION — TREATMENT. 527 

first learn the proper care and government of 
themselves and their children before they clamor 
to participate in the affairs of state. 

It is an agreeable fact that women are becoming 
more thoughtful and inquiring upon the subject of 
health — and anxious to acquaint themselves with 
the symptoms of diseases and the proper remedies 
for the same. 

Treatment. — We must first learn the cause of 
acute or chronic inflammation of the womb and 
remove it before we can expect a permanent cure. 
As has been previously said, one of the principal 
causes of female diseases is found in the utter dis- 
regard of the laws of health in matters of dress. 
I am aware that society demands a certain recog- 
nition of fashion, and that it is extremely difficult 
to design a costume that shall be both healthful 
and fashionable. A great reform in women's 
dress is demanded if we would have healthy, 
vigorous wives and daughters. While delays in 
adopting a dress reform are to be expected I would 
not, as a woman and physician, feel that I had dis- 
charged a duty I owe to the future generation if I 
did not enter an earnest protest against the present 
long-waisted tight-fitting dress. No woman can 
adopt it for a series of five years and keep herself 
free from uterine difficulties in some form. The 
waist of the dress should be worn loosely, so that 
the lungs can expand fully at each inspiration. 
The weight of the clothing should be borne by the 
shoulders. No pressure or weight should be 



528 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

allowed to rest upon the hips and bowels, as such 
a course, long- continued, will result in misplace- 
ments and congestions. 

The injurious effect of high-heeled shoes can 
hardly be overdrawn. The abdominal and pelvic 
muscles are kept upon a tension which will pro- 
duce serious inflammation of the pelvic organs. 
" Common sense shoes " are the only sensible shoes 
for a woman to wear. 

Ladies who cannot decide to abandon the corset 
altogether, should select one with spiral springs at 
the sides, which expand and contract in accord- 
ance with the motions of the body. This corset 
should be provided with shoulder straps, by which 
the weight of the clothing is borne. Buttons 
should be sewed upon the corset at the waist line, 
to which the skirts may be attached by means of 
buttonholes in the bands. 

A very convenient under-waist may be made of 
silesia or drilling. The front and back are cut 
like any dress-waist, only very loose fitting — cut 
out that part of the front covering the bust and 
replace by a gathered puff about eighteen inches 
long and the depth of the piece removed. The 
waist should be finished at the bottom with a band 
two inches wide and lined with heavy material, so 
as to be strong enough to bear the weight of the 
skirts suspended to it by means of buttons. It 
will be seen that this waist is made to support the 
weight of clothing from the shoulder without the 
annoyance of straps or suspenders. The effect of 



INFLAMMATION — TREATMENT. 529 

this waist is to give a full, well developed bust. 
Under vests made of " Jersey cloth " are especially 
comfortable, as they cling closely to the body and 
yet do not impair the movements of the body or 
impede the circulation. 

Pure air. — Too much cannot be said of the ben- 
efits derived from exercise in open, pure air. As 
a tonic, it is better than medicine. It gives tone 
to the appetite, aids digestion, and lends vigor to 
both mind and body. Invalids who suffer from 
nervous prostration or from uterine diseases, 
should live much in the open sunshine. Outdoor 
life reinforces the strength, increases the appetite, 
repairs the blood, quiets the nerves and gives new 
life and health to the body. The greatest physicians 
are good water, sunlight, and exercise in pure air. 
Women suffering from womb disease are exceed- 
ingly nervous, often almost hysterical, and apt to 
be very irritable. To spend an hour or two in the 
open air, either in walking, riding or some health- 
ful amusement, will often wholly relieve the above 
distressing symptoms. If the patient is too weak 
to go out or too ill to be carried out of doors, the 
room should be thoroughly aired as often as ner- 
vous indications arise. Dr. Byford suggests the 
following methods : " If it is cold weather we 
should cover the patient to protect her, and let the 
frosty air — the colder the better — into the room 
by opening all the doors and windows, and keep 
the room clear of visitors. It will astonish any- 
body who has not observed the effect of a temper- 
34 



530 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

ature near zero, on those swooning hypochondriacs. 
A change almost instantly occurs for the better. 
If the air is not cold, it will still do much good to 
give it perfectly fresh to the patients in abundance. 
When able, they may be taken out of doors. This 
treatment introduces the natural stimulants, 
oxygen and cold, into the lungs, and brings them 
into contact with the nerves and is more enliven- 
ing than medicine. How long the room should be 
kept open and cold, will depend upon the effect ; 
but we should always, if possible, make these pa- 
tients sleep in open, cold rooms. This is a very 
important item, which will often require ingenuity 
as well as authority to enforce." 

Food. — The tendency of uterine disease is to re- 
duce the quality of the blood. and produce weak- 
ness and debility. Therefore the food should be 
generously given and of a very nutritious charac- 
ter, and not highly seasoned. Milk, cream, soft 
eggs, rare beef, game, poultry, mutton chops, fish 
oatmeal and graham bread are most suitable for a 
diet. If the patient is too weak to eat meats of 
any kind, the concentrated juices of them in the 
form of extracts should be given in quantities suf- 
ficient to build up the system. 

Tonics. — Tonic medicines will not be required 
very long, if the patient can be induced to try the 
benefits of outdoor life and moderate exercise. 
In case of too great prostration of the patient to 
exercise mildly, some gentle stimulant, as ale or 
porter may be used sparingly, as an appetizer, but 



INFLAMMATION — TREATMENT. 53 1 

great caution is necessary in their use, that the pa- 
tient does not acquire a love for stimulants. Some 
vegetable tonic may be given instead of ale or 
porter. The kind of tonic must be determined by 
the condition of the stomach and the peculiarities 
of the case. If the patient is pale and bloodless, 
has cold hands and feet, the following prescription 
will be beneficial : 

Take of — Sulphate of Quinine, one dram ; 

Tincture of Chloride of Iron, one-half ounce ; 
Tincture of Bitter Orange Compound, three ounces ; 
Simple Syrup, three and one-half ounces. 
Mix. — Add two grains of Strychnine, dissolved in one dram of 
Acetic Acid. 

One teaspoonful in a wine glass of water to be 
taken after each meal. 
Or, 

Take of — Pyrophosphate of Iron, four drams ; 
Sulphate of Quinine, two drams ; 
Compound Tincture of Gentian, five ounces ; 
Compound Tincture of Dandelion, three ounces. 
Mix. — One teaspoonful to be taken before each meal. The same 
amount of Strychnine may be added to this formula as to the formula 
above, if desired. 

If there is any tendency to indigestion, or a 
weakened condition of the stomach, the above for- 
mula, with the strychnine added, will be found a 
very valuable remedy. The dose of the strychnine 
is very small and not attended with any danger 
whatever, in the dose prescribed. Do not use both 
formulas at the same time, but it might be well to 
alternately use them. 

In most cases of inflammation of the womb, there 



532 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

is a tendency to constipation of the bowels, which 
must in no wise be permitted to remain, as a per- 
fect cure of uterine inflammation cannot be accom- 
plished while constipation exists. Strict attention 
must be paid to the rules laid down in the chapter 
treating on that subject. 

Sleep. — Uterine disease is productive of great 
nervous excitability, often to such an extent that 
the patient finds it almost impossible to sleep. At- 
tention to hygienic measures, such as proper ven- 
tilation of the sleeping room, exercise and a gen- 
erous out-of-door life, will often be all that the pa- 
tient needs to secure the most refreshing sleep. If, 
however, the inability to sleep is persistent after 
faithfully adopting the above hygienic measures, 
relaxing medicines must be resorted to. 

The best remedies of this class are preparations 
of Bromide of Potassium or Sodium with Hy- 
oscyamus. 

Take of — Elixir of Bromide of Potassium, three and one- 
half ounces; 
Fluid Extract of Hyoscyamus, one-half ounce. 
Mix. — Take one or two teaspoonfuls each night before retiring. 

If necessary, the dose can be repeated in an 
hour or two. 

Or, 

Take of — Extract of Hyoscyamus, thirty grains ; 
Extract of Hops, one dram. 

Mix. — Make twenty- four pills. Take one pill one-half hour be- 
fore retiring, and repeat the dose in an hour if needed. Opium and 
Hydrate of Chloral are both valuable remedies to induce sleep, but 



INFLAMMATION— TREATMENT. 533 

should never be resorted to, except under the advice of a physician, 
as both the drugs are attended with danger when improperly used. 

Sexual excitement. — In all cases of acute inflam- 
mation of the uterus there should be a total absti- 
nence of marital relations. This is not always 
easily accomplished, as few husbands understand 
the necessity for such a course. Anything which 
tends to attract the blood to the womb, will in- 
crease the congestion and inflammation ; therefore 
sexual intercourse, impure thoughts and conversa- 
tions, everything which tends to arouse the pas- 
sions, should be carefully avoided. Travel and a 
change of scenery are often very beneficial, from 
the fact that the necessary rest can be secured, 
and the thoughts will be diverted from the disease, 
which is of incalculable value to the patient. Con- 
stantly dwelling upon any disease most surely 
fastens its hold upon the patient. It should, there- 
fore, be the aim of friends to divert the mind into 
any healthy channel. Do not refer to her malady 
as a serious matter. Be cheerful and hopeful in 
her presence. If the mind is bereft of all hope, 
recovery is impossible, so great is the influence of 
the mind over the body. 

In acute stages of inflammation of the womb, 
perfect rest in bed should be required. The pains 
should be relieved by warm poultices of flaxseed 
or yeast, applied over the bowels. If the weight 
of the poultice is objectionable, a liniment made 
from the following formula will be exceedingly 
useful : 



534 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Take of — Hydrate of Chloral, two ounces; 
Gum Camphor, two ounces; 
Chloroform, two ounces; 
Tincture of Aconite Root, two ounces. 
Mix. — Apply over the bowels freely every two or three hours and 
rub in, after which cover with a warm, dry flannel. 

Five grain doses of Dover's Powders may be 
given three hours apart to relieve pain and pro- 
duce sleep. After the inflammation has passed 
into a chronic state, exercise is advisable. There 
is a great diversity of opinion in regard to the 
effect of exercise among the medical profession — . 
but after years of observation, covering a large 
practice in female diseases, I am convinced of the 
utility of exercise, especially in the open air. Light 
household duties are not objectionable. Exercise 
will divert the blood from the congested parts and 
afford relief. Great care should be used that the 
exercise is not violent nor too long continued. 
There can be no absolute rule laid down to govern 
the patient in this matter — but her own observation 
and experience will help to decide the amount and 
kind that is most beneficial. In a general way, I 
would say exercise should be discontinued, for the 
time, when the patient begins to feel weary. After 
proper rest, the exercise may be resumed. Carriage 
riding is less useful than walking, as but few of the 
muscles are brought into play, while in walking 
every muscle is exercised ; the breathing becomes 
more rapid and deeper ; the lungs are expanded to 
receive large supplies of oxygen, which coming in 
contact with the blood in the lungs, enriches it 



INFLAMMATION — LOCAL TREATMENT. 535 

with life-giving properties. The patient soon 
realizes the benefit derived from this sort of exer- 
cise. The cultivation of flowers, and games such as 
lawn-tennis and croquet are healthful. We quote 
on this subject from the eminent Dr. Byford : " It 
is a great evil of the present state of society that a 
lady cannot find in useful employment that healthy 
tonic exercise for the body and mind which she 
needs. She must for muscular exercise, engage 
in the measured sameness of the quadrille, or the 
giddy whirl and violence of the waltz, or cramp 
her limbs to the steady routine of a system of 
calisthenics. What are all these for variety and 
adaptedness to their wants compared to the wash- 
ing, ironing, sweeping, milking, churning, spin- 
ning, weaving, cooking, walking, running, of 
household engagements ; the stimulus of needs ; 
thinking of all these things ; timing them ; pro- 
portioning them ; calculating, economizing, nurs- 
ing, doctoring, advising, correcting, teaching and 
conducting little minds and bodies through the 
physical, moral and intellectual discipline which 
capacitates, unfolds and imbues them with what is 
good and useful? Woman's duties, taking them 
altogether, when well and appropriately performed, 
will do more than all the amusements ever invented 
can do, to keep women well and healthy in everv 
particular." 

If there were less servants in the household, there 
would be more healthy mothers and daughters. 
The predisposing cause of disease must be removed 



536 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

before a cure can be effected. A weakened condi- 
tion of the abdominal muscles, as has been previ- 
ously shown, is the predominant cause of uterine 
misplacements and congestions. Then, in order to 
effect a cure of the diseased organs, exercise tend- 
ing to strengthen these muscles must be resorted 
to. When any muscle or set of muscles is exer- 
cised, more blood is carried to the part, from which 
it receives strength and nourishment. Muscles 
unused become weak and powerless, and vice versa. 
When a patient is too weak to exercise his mus- 
cles, an assistant may do it for him — thus a person 
confined to his bed for weeks, with typhoid fever, 
loses all muscular power. By having the muscles 
rubbed and stretched thoroughly for hours each 
day, he will regain his strength rapidly. The 
Swedish movement is founded upon this principle 
of localized exercise, and has much in it to com- 
mend itself to the public mind. Dr. C. T. Taylor 
has written an excellent work upon the subject of 
localized movements, from which we have selected 
a few as being of especial value in toning up the 
uterine ligaments and abdominal muscles, and are 
easily applied : " The woman lies upon her back, 
upon a firm bed or couch, her hands tightly clasped 
over her head, and her feet drawn up to her body, 
with her knees strongly bent. Then with a moder- 
ate effort, she slowly raises her hips several inches 
from the couch, holds them there for about half a 
minute, and allows them slowly to return to the 
couch. This movement may be repeated, with 
short intervals ol rest, five or six times. 



INFLAMMATION — LOCAL TREATMENT. 537 

"If the strength of the patient is not sufficient to 
perform these movements without too much fa- 
tigue, an assistant may aid her by placing a hand 
under the back near the hips, sustaining the body, 
according to the necessity of the patient. This 
movement will be found very effectual in strength- 
ening the abdominal muscles and relieving conges- 
tion and inflammation of the womb." 

Another beneficial exercise is found in the fol- 
lowing method : The woman lies on a firm couch, 
face downward, resting the extremities of her body 
upon her elbows and toes. Then with, a strong ef- 
fort of the will, she raises her hips from the couch, 
so that her whole weight rests upon her elbows 
and toes. After maintaining herself in this posi- 
tion as long as her health readily permits, she will 
settle her body on the couch. Repeat three or 
four times. An assistant may aid a feeble patient 
the same way as in the previous example. These 
movements will elevate the womb in the pelvic 
cavity, as well as strengthen the abdominal muscles, 
increase the circulation, relieve cold hands and 
feet, and nervous headache. 

Local treatment. — In mild, uncomplicated cases 
of uterine disease, the general methods of treat- 
ment, laid down in the foregoing chapters, will 
be sufficient to effect a cure. If, however, there 
are complications of a grave character, the advice 
and aid of a physician should be sought, as the re- 
covery will be hastened by combining local treat- 
ment with the general treatment indicated in this 



538 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

book. Injections of hot water alone into the vag- 
ina, perseveringly used, are of great value in re- 
lieving congestion and inflammation of the womb. 
Common table salt may be added to the hot water 
with benefit, in severe inflammation. If there is 
prolapsus of the womb from weak vaginal walls, 
copperas can be added in moderate quantities, one 
dram to each quart of water. In case of both 
ulceration and inflammation, an excellent remedy 
is found in the following prescription: 

Take of — Pulverized Borax, two ounces; 
Pulverized Alum, " " 
Carbolic Acid, one dram. 
Mix. — Dissolve one teaspoonful in a quart of hot water, and 
inject three times a day. 

The benefit derived from vaginal injections, in 
inflammations of the womb, largely depends upon 
the perseverance in their use. As a rule, several 
quarts should be used at one time, and be repeated 
three or four times a day. A good syringe for 
this purpose is the Goodyear No. 7. It consists 
of a rubber bulb with two connecting rubber 
tubes. A glass syringe ought never to be used. 
Its use is simply barbarous in severe types of uter- 
ine disease. Another syringe which is valuable 
for weak patients is called "The Fountain Syringe." 
It consists of a large rubber bag capable of hold- 
ing several quarts of water, to which is attached 
several feet of rubber tubing, at one end of which 
is attached a tube. The bag is suspended six or 
seven feet from the floor, while the patient sits 



HOW TO USE INJECTIONS. 539 

over a slop jar, placed upon the floor. The water 
is poured into the receiving vessel and the force 
of the stream thrown against the neck of the 
womb, is regulated by the height at which the bag 
is placed above the floor. 

How to use injections. — As before stated, injec- 
tions must be perseveringly used if beneficial. 
They should be continued from ten to twenty min- 
utes, at one time, according to the severity of the 
inflammation. The temperature of the injections 
should be regulated by the condition of the patient 
and its effect upon her. Hot water is usually most 
desirable in acute inflammation, the symptoms of 
which are an internal burning sensation, which is 
greatly aggravated by exertion. Another remedy 
for acute inflammation of the womb, in praise of 
which too much cannot be said, is the following: 

Take of — Permanganate of Potash, six grains; 
Glycerine, two ounces. 
Mix. — Apply on cotton, and insert into the vagina on retiring. 

The best method of using the cotton, is to cut 
a four-inch square piece of snow-flake batting, 
fasten the four corners together with a soft twine; 
it will make a ball-shaped pledget, over the top of 
which is poured a little of the mixture. Press the 
pledget into the vagina as far as possible, while 
upon the back in bed. The twine remains between 
the limbs and furnishes a ready means to remove 
the cotton the next morning. The amount of dis- 
charge following the removal of the pledget, will 
be truly surprising. The permanganate of potash 



540 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

should be dissolved in a little water before adding 
the glycerine. 

In Chronic Cases. — Where the vaginal walls are 
much relaxed, it is wise to begin with tepid injec- 
tions, and gradually lower the temperature of the 
water. The injections should never be prolonged 
where cold water is used more than five or six min- 
utes at a time. If the patient is shocked by the 
use of cold water, it should be used warmer. 

Patients who have been unable to sleep from 
pain in the back, limbs and pelvis, will often rest 
quietly after a warm hip bath, or a copious vaginal 
injection of hot water. 

If the inflammation of the womb is attended 
with a vaginal discharge, any of the following rem- 
edies will be a valuable addition to the water : To 
a gallon of water, add any one of the following : 
Permanganate of potash, twenty grains ; chlorate 
of potash, two drams ; blue vitriol, one dram ; 
iodide of potassium, two drams; glycerine, one 
ounce. If there is much uterine pain, a teaspoon- 
ful of laudanum may be used in a quart of hot 
water, or a tea made of hops, camomile, poppies, 
or slippery elm. 

The directions as given in this chapter, if faith- 
fully followed, are sufficient to cure almost any in- 
flammation which has not extended into the body 
of the womb. In this case direct applications of 
iodine, tannin, nitrate silver and chromic acid must 
be made to the womb, through a speculum. The 
services of a skillful physician are needed. This is 



THE UTERUS AND ITS SUPPORTS. 541 

a matter of vital importance, therefore let no char- 
latan attempt to treat the case. Much suffering 
has been engendered by the indiscriminate use of 
these powerful remedies. Rapid recoveries from 
severe uterine disease are rare, the time required 
ranging from three to four months, to one or two 
years. 

If the nervous system has become much in- 
volved, the recoveries will be very slow. When 
the health is once established, a relapse is not likely 
to occur, if the patient strictly adheres to the ad- 
vice given. Avoid tight clothing, late hours, 
undue exercise, exposures to sudden changes of 
temperature, heavy clothing borne by the hips 
and indigestible food. 

The uterus and its supports. — The uterus is 
the organ of reproduction or gestation. Its posi- 
tion in the pelvic cavity is behind the bladder and 
in front of the rectum, beneath the intestines and 
above the vagina. It is held loosely in its position 
by folds of peritoneum, which inclose muscular 
fibers. There are also six ligaments which con- 
tribute to its sdpport, three on each side. The 
broad ligaments extend from the border of the 
uterus to the sides of the pelvis, leaving the uterus 
suspended between them. The round ligaments 
are two in number and pass from the top of the 
womb to the pelvis; the utero-sacral ligament gives 
the posterior support. From the above descrip- 
tion of the uterine supports, it is evident that it 
may be easily displaced and moved upward or 



542 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

downward to a considerable extent. These natural 
supports are sufficient to maintain it in proper po- 
sition, in conditions of health. If, however, the 
bowels have been crowded downward, and held in 
this position by too heavy and unsupported cloth- 
ing, or tight lacing, the womb will also become dis- 
placed and diseased. The displacements may be 
either forward, backward, or latterly. When the 
womb is tipped forward it is called anteversion, 
when turned backward it is named retroversion. 
Displacements are rare laterally, though very 
troublesome when they do occur. 

Prolapsus (Plate 28) or falling of the womb, is very 
common, and the result of complex causes. When 
the prolapsus is only partial, the uterus descends 
somewhat into the vagina. When complete, it 
passes down through the vagina and protrudes 
through the labia. Causes : There are many 
causes that lead to prolapsus, among which may be 
mentioned excessive weight of the womb from 
tumors; dropsy of the bowels; falling heavily 
upon the nates ; weakening of the uterine liga- 
ments, and the relaxing of the vaginal walls. The 
vaginal walls may become relaxed by too frequent 
child-bearing, a persistent leucorrhceal discharge, 
habitual constipation, excessive sexual intercourse 
and a lacerated perineum. 

There is an inherent tendency in muscular fiber 
to contract, therefore uterine displacements, in 
their early stages, will recover readily upon the 
removal of the cause. It is different, however, 



PROLAPSUS — SYMPTOMS. 543 

when by inflammation, congestion, or tumors, the 
uterus has become badly diseased. It is impossi- 
ble to remedy these conditions while women per- 
sist in following blindly the mandates of fashion. 
Every organ has its own rightful place in the ab- 
dominal cavity, and if crowded out of its place, it 
in turn must occupy the place of another organ, 
until the topography of the abdominal cavity is 
lost, and the vagina in a measure loses its con- 
tractile power. 

Abortions, as well as child-bearing, are calcu- 
lated to induce falling of the womb. The organ 
is then large and bulky, the vagina weak and dis- 
tended, and any attempt at such a time to maintain 
an upright position, would be almost certain to in- 
duce prolapsus. Sudden violence, as being thrown 
from a carriage, straining efforts in defecation and 
excessive strain upon abdominal muscles in lifting 
weights, will produce prolapsus. 

Symptoms. — When falling of the womb comes 
on gradually, the symptoms are less acute. The 
neck of the womb may frequently descend to the 
vulva without producing serious effects. It fre- 
quently occurs, after child-birth, that the uterus is 
very much prolapsed, but if the patient lies in bed 
a proper length of time, there is rarely any ill 
effects from it, as the tendency of all disease is to 
recovery, under proper management. 

When the womb is prolapsed by any sudden 
violence, it is attended with pain in the back, loins 
and limbs, a dragging sensation in the pelvis, which 



544 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

is greatly aggravated by any exertion, an inability 
to maintain an erect position for any length of 
time. The organs in proximity to the uterus are 
more or less disturbed in the performance of their 
functions. The bowels become constipated by the 
undue pressure of the womb upon the rectum. 
The bladder is frequently dragged down with the 
uterus, so that it is difficult to urinate. The vagina 
becomes a dark red or even purple hue, and very 
sensitive to the touch. 

Treatment. — The treatment should be directed 
toward removing the cause. The clothing should 
be light, loose and warm, and the weight of it sup- 
ported by the shoulders. All tension upon the 
natural supports of the womb must be removed. 
If inflammation is present, use injections freely of 
hot water with salt in the proportion of a table- 
spoonful to two quarts of water — repeat several 
times a day. If constipation is present, use mild 
saline cathartics or injections of tepid water into 
the rectum. A stringent injection into the vagina 
for prolapsus of the womb, during the acute inflam- 
matory stage, is very questionable treatment. After 
the inflammatory action has been subdued by hot 
water, use astringents for their tonic effect. The 
preferable astringents are alum and borax in equal 
parts — tannin, white oak bark and copperas. Pes- 
saries in the acute stage should be avoided — and 
at any time should be applied only as a last resort, 
as more or less ulceration is liable to occur from 
their use, unless great care is taken to secure clean- 



ANTEVERSION — TREATMENT. 545 

liness of the instrument as well as of the vagina. 
To aged women a properly adjusted pessary may 
afford great comfort, but it cannot be regarded as 
curative. One of the best made is Dr. H. G. 
Farr's uterine support, as it is combined with a 
partially elastic bandage, which is worn as an ex- 
ternal support for the bowels while the pessary is 
placed in the vagina to support the uterus. The 
muscles of the abdomen should be strengthened 
by rubbing, kneading and bathing in tepid or cold 
salt water with a flesh brush or a coarse towel. 
The exercise given in the foregoing pages should 
be rigidly practiced. Cures are only effected by 
restoring the proper tone to the uterine ligaments 
and the abdominal muscles. A good fitting band- 
age, made of drilling, similar to one worn after 
child-birth, is often very useful in supporting the 
bowels. 

Anteversion (Plate 25). — The womb in its natural 
position inclines considerably forward. The incli- 
nation of the uterus is such that it coincides with 
the axis of the pelvic cavity. In anteversion the 
womb falls still farther forward, sometimes to such 
a degree that it lies almost horizontally across the 
pelvis. 

Causes. — During the period of development the 
womb is always anteverted, but after puberty it 
disappears usually. Fibroid tumors situated on 
the anterior base of the uterus, will produce ante- 
versions by dragging the organ forward, preg- 
nancy in the early stages, too great distension of 



546 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

the bladder, wearing stays which press upon the 
body of the womb, and congestion of the uterus 
will cause anteversion. 

Symptoms. — The body of the uterus presses 
upon the bladder and narrows its capacity to re- 
tain urine, thereby causing a desire to pass water 
frequently. If there is much inflammation attend- 
ing the anteversion, there is often great pain in 
urinating. The water is highly colored and de- 
posits a thick sediment. The patient finds the 
most discomfort in the upright position, and is 
therefore adverse to any activity. 

Treatment. — It there are any complications, as 
inflammation, congestion or ulceration of the womb 
they should be removed, as they are frequently 
the cause, and until they are partially removed, 
active measures to rectify the anteversion could 
not be borne. The patient should lie upon the 
back with the hips elevated. To relieve pain and 
inflammation apply warm flaxseed poultices over 
the bowels, or flannels wrung out of a strong de- 
coction of hops and vinegar. 

Retroversion (Plate 26). — This disease is not fre- 
quent in women who have not borne children. 
The body of the womb falls backward upon the 
rectum, while the neck presses upon the bladder. 
It is the result often of a tumor, or an engorge- 
ment of the body of the womb, when sudden mus- 
cular efforts are sufficient to throw the uterus 
backward. Retroversion frequently follows labor, 
by the patient being compelled to lie upon the 



RETROVERSION — TREATMENT. 547 

back for days. The uterus is then large and ex- 
hausted, and readily falls into the hollow of the 
sacrum, from which position it cannot easily rise. 
The obstetric bandage is another cause of retro- 
version. After an exhausting labor the uterus is 
too weak and too heavy to rise into the pelvic 
cavity properly — the bandage is applied to save 
the contour of the figure, at the expense of the 
uterus, which is now unable to overcome all the 
forces combined against it. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms of retroversion are 
almost identical with those of inflammation of the 
womb — pains low in the back and limbs — inability 
to walk — extreme nervousness and constipation is 
persistent from pressure of womb on rectum. 

Treatment. — Remove the cause in the first indi- 
cation. Subdue the inflammation by poultices and 
hot applications over the bowels, give cooling 
aperients ; uterine supports should not be at- 
tempted while there is acute inflammation. After 
that has subsided measurably, Dr. Farr's uterine 
and abdominal support can be used with comfort. 
Any uterine support that is not worn easily should 
be removed at once, as they are then productive 
of harm. 

Flexions of the uterus (Plate 27). — The terms 
retroflexion and retroversion are used almost syn- 
onymously, although differing slightly in detail. 
In retroflexion, the neck of the womb maintains its 
proper position, while the body falls backward. 
Vice versa in anteflexion. 



548 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

Causes. — Diseased conditions of the womb are 
the provoking causes of flexions. 

Symptoms. — The distinguishing difference be- 
tween retroflexion and retroversion, is in the 
greater tendency to painful menstruation in the 
former, together with sterility. 

Treatment. — The treatment is practically the 
same as for anteversion and retroversion. So far 
as possible remove the cause. Often it is of great 
value for the patient to travel, and form new ac- 
quaintances, visit new scenes ; anything that will 
serve to take the patient's mind from a contempla- 
tion of her condition, will be of incalculable benefit. 
The mind has more to do with binding our dis- 
eases to us than we can possibly realize, unless we 
watch the effect of mind over matter for ourselves. 
A careful study of this subject will repay the 
effort. 

How to diagnose uterine disease. — From the fore- 
going pages it will be observed that the symptoms 
of any uterine disease, accompanied with inflamma- 
tion, are very similar. There are, however, a few 
distinguishing points. If the patient has prolapsus, 
the neck of the womb will be found low in the 
vagina. The size varies with the degree of con- 
gestion. There is an opening in the center, lead- 
ing to the body of the womb. If the body of the 
womb is felt pressing against the rectum, retrover- 
sion may be suspected. If there is a desire to 
urinate frequently, together with a tumefaction 
resting upon the bladder, it is evidence of ante- 
version. 



TUMORS OF THE UTERUS. 549 

In all cases where the patient cannot clearly 
diagnose her own case and intelligently apply the 
remedies laid down in this work, she should con- 
sult a skillful physician, as timely aid may save 
years of suffering. 

Tumors of the uterus. — There are three varie- 
ties of tumors which are found frequently in the 
uterus, viz : Fibrous, polypus and cancer. The 
two former are not usually fatal, while the latter 
is regarded always with grave apprehensions, from 
being of malignant character. 

Fibroid tumor. — The similarity of the muscular 
fibers of the womb with that of fibrous tumors, is 
fully established. Tumors may develope in any 
part of the womb, but they are most frequent in 
the body. They vary much in size and numbers, 
over thirty having been found in one patient. The 
majority of these tumors, however, are single, and 
may attain great size. 

Causes. — Little is absolutely known in regard to 
the causes leading to their development, but among 
the predisposing causes are menstrual disorders, 
sterility, age and race. The colored people are most 
liable to tumors. Tumors seldom appear after men- 
struation ceases, nor before puberty. The time of 
life most liable to their development, is during the 
period when the generative organs exhibit the 
greatest activity. 

Symptoms. — The patient often has profuse hem- 
orrhages, pains in the pelvic cavity, irritation of 
the bladder and rectum, profuse leucorrhceal dis- 



550 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

charge, and frequent watery discharges from the 
uterus ; this watery discharge may be considered 
diagnostic of fibroid tumor. As the tumor en- 
larges, it can be distinctly felt through the abdom- 
inal walls. 

Treatment. — The action of medicine in promot- 
ing absorption of fibroid tumors, is far less effect- 
ive than desirable. Tonics are useful in a general 
way to build up the health if impaired. Iodide of 
potassium has been given in ten grain doses, three 
times a day, with partial results. Equal parts of 
iodine and glycerine applied freely over the abdo- 
men, with a camel's hair brush, morning and eve- 
ning, seems to exert a favorable influence in 
checking the growth of the tumor. Without doubt 
the most satisfactory results are obtained from the 
use of electricity, applied over the bowels. Good 
results have been observed from its use. In my 
experience nothing is so helpful. Tumors which 
have shown great activity previous to the meno- 
pause or " change of life," usually cease to grow, 
and often greatly decrease in size. 

Polypus of the womb. — A polypus is a pear 
shaped tumor attached to the uterus by a small 
pedicle or stem. It developes in the neck of the 
womb most frequently, although no part of the 
uterus is exempt. When it forms in the neck of 
the womb, it frequently protrudes into the vagina, 
and may pass out at the vulva. 

Cause. — Inflammatory action of the uterus, or 
obstructions to the menstrual flow, or anything 



POLYPUS OF THE WOMB — TREATMENT. 55 I 

which tends to keep up active congestion, predis- 
poses to the formation of polypus. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms of polypus are sim- 
ilar to those of fibrous tumors, as pain in the back, 
and hemorrhages ; the latter is a pretty constant 
symptom, especially if the polypus lies in the neck 
of the womb or vagina, and is subject to constant 
irritation. 

Treatment.— The polypus should be expelled 
from the body of the uterus, if possible, by the con- 
tinued use of ergot. If attached to the neck, the 
pedicle should be severed. The operation is 
attended with little pain or danger. There are 
frequently a number existing at the same time. 
At one time I removed from a patient fourteen 
polypi. Any inflammation following their removal 
should be relieved by local applications. 

Cancer of the womb. — The breast, stomach and 
womb are the organs in which malignant tumors 
most frequently develop. According to statistics 
cancer of the womb is most common — and the 
point of attack is usually the neck of the womb. 
From a hardened and nodulated condition it soon 
passes into an ulcerative and sloughing state, and 
continues to destroy the surrounding tissues, till 
death comes to the relief of the sufferer. The 
duration of the disease varies from a few months 
to a few years. It is incurable, and will reappear 
after surgical removals. 

Cause. — The cause of cancer is supposed to be 
from some peculiarity of the blood. It developes 



552 DISEASES' OF WOMEN. 

most frequently in families who have inherited 
scrofulous tendencies or consumption. Cancer 
occurs most frequently in middle life. It is an 
established fact that inflammation of the uterus is 
not a provoking cause of cancer. 

Symptoms. — This malady frequently makes con- 
siderable advancement without attracting much 
attention. When the tumor begins to slough away 
hemorrhages appear, and offensive discharges 
which produce abrasions in the vagina — the com- 
plexion assumes a waxy hue and the general health 
fails. Sometimes cancer is attended with sharp, 
lancinating pains. 

Treatment. — But little can be done to arrest the 
progress of the disease. The indications are to 
control the hemorrhages, relieve the pain and the 
offensiveness of the discharges — for the latter pur- 
pose a solution of permanganate of potash, in the 
proportion of ten grains to the quart of water or 
twenty drops of carbolic acid to the same amount 
of water, will be found useful to inject several times 
a day. The pain may be controlled by opium or 
morphine. No other remedy will afford such re- 
lief. The general health must be supported by a 
very nutritious diet — as rare beef, cream, soft eggs, 
pure wine, etc. If the appetite is poor, give tonics. 

Do not submit the case to a charlatan doctor. 
The patient who can find no relief in the care of a 
conscientious, painstaking and learned physician, 
will gain nothing in the hands of a conscienceless 
quack. 



LEUCORRHCEA — CAUSES — TREATMENT. 553 

Be cheerful and chatty in the ^presence of the 
patient. Divert her thoughts from her condition 
as much as possible. Ventilation of the apart- 
ment is essential. 

Leucorrhoea, or " whites." — The term implies the 
presence of a non-sanguineous discharge from the 
female generative passages. It is a very common 
disorder among women, and no age is exempt 
from it. It sometimes appears catarrhal in its 
nature, and is easily arrested by rest and injections 
of cold or tepid water. The menstrual period is 
usually preceded by a leucorrhceal discharge, as 
a result of temporary congestion, and passes away 
shortly after the menses cease. When leucorrhoea 
is constant and produces an itching of the external 
parts, or a burning sensation in the vagina, it is an 
indication of uterine disorder, and should be ar- 
rested at once. There are several varieties of 
discharges from the generative organs which are 
called leucorrhoea — any of which is caused by an 
increased secretion of the mucus lining of the 
affected part. 

Causes. — General weakness and debility may 
produce leucorrhoea ; this general weakness may 
be associated with some derangement of the liver, 
lungs or heart. It may result from a general low- 
ering of the vitality or nutrition of the body which 
constitutes the first stages of consumption. Local 
causes are any foreign growth in the womb ; flex- 
ions, polypi in the uterus ; congestions, and prolap- 
sus of the uterus. Leucorrhoea is often produced 



554 DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

in children by seat worms in the rectum, in which 
case there is more or less itching in the vagina; or 
it may occur from simple debility. 

Treatment. — The first care should be to remove 
the cause. If leucorrhcea is caused by physical 
weakness, tonics should be given, and careful hy 
gienic measures adopted, such as baths, friction ot 
the skin, outdoor life, change of scene, exercise, 
proper attention to the diet. All habits of a known 
pernicious tendency must be avoided. Injections 
are of great value, and ought to be used two or 
three times a day. In winter the water should be 
tepid or hot ; in the summer, cold or tepid. In- 
jections containing alum, sulphate of zinc, borax, 
oak bark tea, and camomile tea are beneficial. If 
the leucorrhceal discharge arises from congestion 
of the body or neck of the womb, injections of 
iodine are very useful, in the proportion of twenty 
drops to the pint of water. Local treatment is 
often the only real curative remedy for leucorrhcea. 

In conclusion, I fervently hope that this little 
book will, through God's blessing, be to my reader, 
during the whole period of her motherhood, a 
friend in her need, a guide in her difficulties, 
and a silent but trusty counselor in all things per- 
taining to her health and the health of her chil- 
dren. I sincerely trust that it will give her as 
much pleasure in reading these pages as it has 
given me in writing them. 

FINIS. 



IHDEX. 



A New Theory 202 

Abdomen, Stretching of 115 

Abdominal Belt 116 

Abortion and Miscarriage 143 

Abortion, criminal 148 

" dangers of 150 

Abrasions of the skin 487 

Accidents ." 469 

Accidental Poisoning 471, 478 

Advice to a Father 391 

After-birth, treatment of 234 

Ailments while Nursing 260 

Air and Exercise 69 

' ' in Youth 492 

" " " While Nursing 258 

Aloe Paste in Weaning 271 

Amenorrhcea 37 

Treatment of 38 

Amusements , 381, 494, 495 

Analysis of Milk 296 

Animation, how to restore 232 

Antecedent preparation 163 

Anteversion 542-545 

" Causes of , 545 

" Treatment of 543 

" Symptoms of 543 

Antipathies of Children 367 

Aperients 362, 453 

Appetite, loss of 64 

Areola, the 18 

(555.) 



556 INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Arteries of the Womb 21 

Art, the noblest use of 185 

Artificial Human Milk 295 

Aspirations, influence of . 193 

Attendants, hints to 230 

Bandage after Labor 236 

Bathing and Exercise 210 

' ' During Pregnancy 68 

' ' in Youth 487 

Bath, the warm 489 

Bites of Cat or Dog . 477 

Black Eye, a 470 

Bladder, the ... . . 122 

' ' Diseases of 123 

' ' Irritability of 62 

Blows and Bruises 470 

Boil, the treatment of a . . . . 449 

Bowels, neglect of the. 82-85 

Large 452 

' ' Protrusion of the 456 

" Treatment of, in labor 239 

Boy or Girl . . 138 

Bran Poultice 468 

Bread Poultice, how to make 469 

Breasts, the 17 

' ' Gathered 265 

' ' Swollen and painful 122 

' ' The, in nursing 250 

Treatment of during weaning 271 

Breathing, exercises in 211, 495 

Bronchitis. ... 412 

Burns, Scalds, etc 473 

Cancer of the Womb ... 551 

Cathartic Drugs 84 

Cause and Effect ■ 179 

Causes of Anteversion 544 

of Mortality in Hand-fed Children 295 



index. 557 

PAGE. 

Chafing- in Infancy 324 

Change of Life 51 

" " " Symptoms of 53 

" " " Treatment of 54 

Chapped Hands 460 

" Lips 461 

Cheerfulness Strongly Recommended 16 

Chicken-pox 440 

Child-birth 214 

" " a Natural Process. - 219 

Child Crowing , 405 

Childhood's Ideal Home 371 

Children, the rights of 165 

Children's Hour 375 

Children and their Diseases 351 

Chills 447 

Chloroform, the value of 229 

Chlorosis 443 

" Causes of B -„ 43 

" Symptoms of 43 

" Treatment of 45 

Choking 476 

Cholera Infantum , , 333 

Cleansings after Labor 241 

Cleanliness of Infants 279 

Clothing in Pregnancy 65 

" " Childhood 352 

" " Infancy 285 

While Nursing 256 

" " Youth... 490 

Common Sense Shoes 52S 

Compress, the wet 455 

Conception 24 

Conclusion 554 

Confinement, duration of , 221 

Constipation So 

1 ' Causes of S2 

" Enema for 94 



558 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Constipation, Evil effects of 81 

" Exercises for 95 

' ' Food an important item 93 

' ' Fruit diet for 92 

" In infancy 326 

" In childhood 361, 453 

" In youth 512 

" Massage treatment for 97 

" A simple remedy for 94 

" Special exercises for , 99 

' ' Treatment of 89 

Constipating Foods 88 

Consumption 505 

Contentment the Best Medicine 16 

Convalescent, the 577 

Convulsions in Infancy 325 

Corns 515 

Corsets, when to wear 491 

Cramps in Child-birth 218 

" of the legs 126 

Criminal abortion 148 

Croup 401 

Cry, the language of 246 

Culture before Birth 160 

Debility from Inflammation 525 

Delivery, rest after 234 

Dentition - 307 

" Disorders of 309 

" Painful 313 

' ' Second 396 

Dews of Evening, Dangerous. . . 14 

Diagnosis of Uterine Diseases 548 

Diarrhoea 105, 335 

Diet while Nursing 256 

' ' in Infancy 290 

" in Childhood... 356 

" after Labor 244 



index. 559 

PAGE. 

Diphtheria 416 

Diseases of Pregnancy 102 

" of Women tr ,... 518 

Disorders of Menstruation 37 

Douche Bath 210 

Drainage 369 

Drain Poison, Deadly Effect of 75 

Dress Reform 527 

Dysenteric Diarrhoea 335 

Dysentery 336 

Dysmenorrhea 49 

Earache 450 

Ear, How to Remove Substances from 479 

Early Rising 498 

Earth Closets, How Made 86 

Education of Children * 389 

Elastic Silk Stockings 114 

Electrotyping Process 155 

Electuary of Figs, Raisins, etc 1 14 

Emaciation a Sign of Pregnancy 62 

Embryo, Growth of the 26 

" Nourishment of 25 

Embryonic Moulding, The Law of 155 

Employment, Nature's Physician . 247 

Enema, The Use of 241, 526 

Excitability of Mind in Pregnancy 65 

Exercise for Womb Troubles 526 

" to Promote Health 13, 535 

" During Childhood 381 

" During Infancy 313 

Experience of Elizabeth C. Stanton 199 

Expulsive Pains . 222 

External Applications of Heat 469 

Parts, Irritability of 128 

Fainting 134, 511 

Falling of the Womb 542 

False Labor Pains 129 



560 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Fallopian Tubes, The 23 

Farinaceous Foods in Infancy . . 300 

Fashionable Dress, Evil Effects of 89 

Fathers, The Duty of 191 

' ' Advice to 391 

Fibroid Tumors - 549 

Fidgets 107 

Fimbriae, The 23 

Fire, Precautions Against 473 

Flatulence .60,110,522 

" in Infancy 330 

Flexions of the Uterus 547 

Fcetal Circulation 29 

Foods for Infants 299 

' ' for Inflammation 530 

Frightening of Children . . 373 

Fruit an Aperient 92, 454 

' ' Diet in Pregnancy 204 

Fumigations Important 73 

Gathered Breast 265 

Gardening 211 

Generation, Organs of 17 

Gertrude Baby Suit, The 287 

Gestation, Period of 129 

Graafian Follicles 22 

Grinding Pains : 215 

Griping in Infancy 332 

Gum Boil 515 

Gums, How to Lance . 308 

Gymnastic Exercises 495 

Hair, Management of the < . . 490 

Hand Fed Children, Mortality of 295 

Head, Affections of the 483 

Heartburn 62,108 

Heart, Palpitation of the . 125 

Hectic Fever 506 

Hemorrhage of the Lungs , 504 



INDEX. 561 

PAGE. 

Hiccough 333 

Hives 340 

Home, The Kingdom of Woman 16 

" Treatment of Children 379 

Hope for all - 175 

Horseback Riding 496 

Hot Water Bottle 106, 468 

Human Instincts, Description of . 176 

Hygienic Waists 68, 528 

Hydropathy 513 

Idiosyncrasies in Childhood 367 

Ignorance of Disease among Mothers 398 

Infants, Bathing of 277 

" Cleanliness an Incentive to Health 279 

Clothing of 285 

" Diet for 290 

" Exercise ... 313 

' ' Food for 299 

" How to Care for 275 

" Manner of Feeding 305 

" Sleep of 319 

' ' Suffocation of 321 

Injections, How to Use . .... 539 

Insects, To Remove from the Ear 479 

Inflammation of the Lungs 408 

of the Womb 518 

Chronic, How to Determine 521, 540 

Causes of 524 

Debility in c , 525 

Exercise During . . . . 526 

Food During 530 

Local Treatment 537 

Pure Air Treatment of 529 

Symptoms of 519 

Tonics 530 

Treatment of 527 

Important Advice 472 



562 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Intellect, The March of 38q 

Irregularities of Menstruation 37 

Irritability of the Bladder 62 

Kindergarten Schools . 389 

Kindness, A Long Remembered 277 

Labor, Attendants During 225 

' ' Bandage After 236 

" Beverage for 227 

" Brandy, Use of in 227 

' ' Chloroform in .... 227 

" Cleanliness After 242 

" Dietary 244 

' ' Dress for .' 225 

" Natural Process 227 

" Pains 223 

" Pains, False - - .' 129 

' ' Preparations for 224 

" Stages of 221 

" Symptoms of 215 

" The Bed in 225 

" Treatment After 237 

" Treatment of Bowels During 239 

Lacing in Pregnancy 66 

" Evil Effects of 14 

Lancinating Pains 216 

Language of a Cry, The 346 

Laxative Medicines 84 

Laxative Foods 92 

Leucorrhoea 520, 535 

Ligaments of the Womb - 20 

Likes and Dislikes in Eating 65 

LiKe Begets Like 171 

Liver Colored Patches 65 

Local Treatment in Inflammation 537 

Longings of a Pregnant Woman, The 64 

Matches 473 

Measles 4 2 4 



INDEX. 563 

PAGE. 

Meddlesome Midwifery. 219 

Medicine in Administering to Children 457 

Menopause or Change of Life 523 

Menorrhagia 46 

Mental Occupation, Effects of 83 

Mental Disorders ... 102 

Menstruation 31 

Causes of 32 

Commencement of 34 

11 Duration of 35 

Irregularities of . 37 

in Pregnancy 32 

Profuse 46 

Painful 49 

Regularity of . . . 33 

Milk, Artificial Human 295 

" Crust 464 

" Fever 253 

' ' the best Food for Children 358 

Miscarriage and Abortion 143 

" Causes of 144 

Symptoms of 144 

Stages of 145 

Treatment of . . . 146 

Mistaken Notion, A 201 

Mothers, The Sacred Rights of 169 

" Should Know Themselves 181 

Mortality among Hand-Fed Children ., 295 

Morning Treatment of Children 395 

' ' Sickness 56, 1 1 8 

Mumps, The 448 

Muscular Pains of the Abdomen 104 

Napoleon, Anecdote of . . . 276 

Nature Not to be Trifled With 15,14 

" A Law of .. . 151 

Navel String, Rupture of the 2S3 

" Care of the 282 



564 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Navel, Protrusion of in Pregnancy 61 

Nettle-Rash 340 

Night Terrors . . . . . 374 

Nipples, The '. 18 

" Cracked and Fissured . 264 

" Means to Harden 121 

" Retracted ... 261 

" Sore , 261 

Nose-Bleed 510 

" Stuffings of the, in Infancy 342 

Nurse, How to Select 139 

Nursing 249 

" Air and Exercise While 258 

' ' Ailments of 260 

" Aperients During 268 

Clothing and Diet While 256 

" Depression of Spirits ... 258 

" During the Night 255 

" Hints on 291 

" Occupation While 259 

" Stated Times for 254 

" The Breasts During 250 

Nursery, The ... . 367 

Objectionable Food for Children 363 

Observation, A Teacher's 157 

Occupation while Nursing 259 

Organs of Generation . 17 

Ovarian Tumors 521 

Ovaries, The 21 

Overfeeding in Childhood 365 

Overworked Children 390 

Ovulation . . - 23 

Pain in Children a Morbid Symptom 197 

Painful Menstruation 49 

" " Causes of 49 

" " Symptoms of 49 

" " Treatment of 49 



INDEX. 565 



PAGE. 

Paper Hangings, Poisonous 370 

Parturition without Pain 195 

Pendulous Abdomen 116 

Period of Gestation 129 

Peristaltic Action of the Bowels 81 

Pertinent Suggestions 167 

Piles no 

Pimples on Face 514 

Placenta, The 25 

Plants in Sleeping Room 498 

Play Necessary to a Child's Existence. 388 

Pleasures Necessary to Health 15 

' ' of Childhood 379 

Pledget, How to Make 539 

Poisoning, Accidental 471, 478 

Polypus of the Womb 550 

Precocious Children 501 

Pregnancy 56 

Signs of 56 

Diseases of 102 

Dress During 65 

Mental Disorders During 102 

Table, A 132 

Premature Labor 143 

Pre-Natal Culture 153 

" First Stages 182 

Progressive Stages 187 

Profession or Trade, Choice of 496 

Profuse Menstruation 46 

Causes of 46 

Symptoms of 47 

Treatment of 47 

Prolapsus Uteri 542 

* ' Symptoms of 543 

" Treatment of 544 

Pulse, The, in Health and Disease 486 

Punishment of Children 374 

Pure Air for Inflammation 529 



566 INDEX. 



Quickening 559 

Quick Lime 473 

Quinine Mixture 124 

Recapitulation *. 161 

Red Gum 341 

Reproduction, The Law of 31 

Rest After Delivery 234, 243 

' ' Necessity of 76 

Retroversion of the Womb 542, 546 

Symptoms of 547 

Treatment of 547 

Rhubarb and Magnesia 105 

Round Shoulders 501 

Rupture of the Navel 283 

Saliva, increased flow of 64 

Scalds and Burns 473 

Scarlet Fever 426 

Scrofula 501 

Second Dentition 396 

Sedentary Habits 82 

Sexual Excitement 533 

Sickness during Labor 216 

Sick Nurse, on selecting 484 

Sick Room, management of a . . 481 

Sitz Bath 68, 457 

Skating 496 

Skirt Supporters 68 

Sleep 77, 532 

' ' During Childhood 391 

" " Infancy 319 

Sleepiness 63 

Sleeplessness , 106 

Soap Plaster in Weaning 271 

Soothing Syrup, how to make. 313 

Sore Throat ... 509 

Special Tendencies, how imparted ... 192 

Specific Directions 173 



INDEX. 567 



PAGF. 

Spitting Blood 504 

Stimulating Liniment, how to make 79 

Stings of Bees, Wasps, etc 477 

Stocking Supporters 355 

Stooping in Childhood 503 

Stomach, pain in the 468 

Stye, treatment of a 452 

Suffocation in Infancy 321 

Supports of the Uterus 541 

Suppository, The, in constipation 454 

Suppression of the Menses 39 

" Symptoms of 39 

" " " Treatment of 40 

Swallowing, Accidentally, Coins, Glass, etc 480 

Sweetmeats Poisonous 363 

Swimming, a glorious exercise 488 

Swollen Limbs in Pregnancy 114 

Syringe, the Fountain . 538 

Syringe, Goodyear, No. 7 . . 538 

Teeth and Gums, care of 499 

Tender Feet 516 

Theory, a reasonable 116 

" a new 202 

Thermometer, importance of 482 

Things to be Avoided 189 

Thrush, the . 344 

Times and Seasons „ 193 

Tobacco, on use of 510 

Toothache 116 

" a sign of pregnancy * 64 

Tooth Rash 341 

Tonics for Inflammation 530 

Tumors of Uterus 549 

' ' Fibroid 549 

" Ovarian 521 

Twins, how produced 25 

Umbilical Cord, the 26 



568 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Under Waist, a convenient , 528 

Uterus, the , 19 

" Flexions of 547 

' ' Supports for ; 541 

' ' Tumors of 549 

Uterine Diseases, how to diagnose 548 

Vagina, the 18 

Vaginal Douche 210 

Varicose Veins 114 

Ventilation 72 

in Nursery 368 

Walking a Glorious Exercise 13 

Warm Baths, value of „ 467 

Water Brash 109 

' ' a valuable aperient 247 

1 ' on the Brain 399 

Weaning 269 

" Symptoms denoting the necessity of 272 

' ' Time for 269 

" Manner of 270 

1 ' Warning Symptoms 273 

Well-born, the right to be 164 

Wet Compress, the » 455 

Wet Nurse, how to select 293 

" " qualities required 294 

Wetting the Bed 458 

Whites, the 126 

Whooping Cough 442 

Wine of Ipecac Mixture 403 

Woman more Patient than Man 219 

Womb, Physiology of the 19 

" cancer on 551 

" inflammation of 518 

" polypus of 550 

' ' structure of 519 

" subsidence of the 215 

Worms 461 



Accoucher. — Surgeon in child-birth. 

Allantoisc. — Membrane connecting the foetus and chorion. 

Amenorrhea. — Suppression of the menses. 

Anteversion. — Tipped forward. 

Anteflexion. — Bent backward. 

A ntiphlogistic. — Opposing inflammation. 

Aperient. — Mildly cathartic. 

Astringent. — Bindi ng. 

Cathartic. — Laxative. 

Chorion. — The external foetal membrane. 

Colon. — The large intestine. 

Congestion. — Overcrowded bloodvessels. 

Cutaneous. — Pertaining to the skin. 

Diaphragm. — Parietal muscle between the chest and abdomen. 

Diagnosis. — Determination of disease. 

Diphtheria. — Malignant disease of the throat. 

Dysmenorrhcea. — Painful menstruation. 

Emaciation. — State of being reduced to leanness. 

Embryo. — Egg. 

Enciente. — Pregnant. 

Enema. — Injection. 

Fallopian Tubes. — Oviducts. 

Febrifuge. — Medicine to remove or mitigate fever. 

Flatulence, — Wind in stomach or intestines. 

Fceces. — Discharge from the bowels. 

Foetus. — Child in the womb. 

Foetal. — Pertaining to the foetus. 

Fomentation. — Hot applicationsto the body. 

Fimbriated, — Finger-like. 

Genitalia, — Birthplace of the egg. 

Gestation. — Period of growth of child in the womb. 

Graafian Follicle. — Ovarian cavity containing egg. 

Hemorrhoids. — Piles — Tumors in and about the anus. 

Hygiene. — The art of preserving health. 

Intra- Uterine. — Within the womb. 

Labia. — Lips of the vagina. 

Laxative. — Cathartic. 

(569) 



57° GLOSSARY. 

Malaise. — Sickness. Discomfort. 
Mammary . — Pertaining to the breasts. 
Massage. — Rubbing and kneading the body. 
Meno-Panse. — Change of life. 
Menstruation. — Monthly flow from the womb. 
Menorrhagia. — Profuse menstruation. 
Nates. — The buttocks. 
Obstetrics. — Midwifery. 
Os Uteri. — Mouth of the womb. 
Osseous. — Bony. 
Ova. — Eggs. Plural of egg. 

Ovary. — Generative organ in which the ova are developed. 
Oviducts. — Fallopian tubes. 
Ovulation. — Laying of the egg. 
Ovum. — An egg. 
Patieties. — Walls of a cavity. 
Parturition. — Child-birth. 
Pelvis. — Lower part of the abdomen. 

Peritoneum. — The membrane lining the walls and covering the or- 
gans in the abdomen. 

Peristaltic. — Worm-like movements of the bowels. 

Placenta. — After-birth. 

Pre-natal. — Before birth. 

Prolapsus Uteri. — Falling of the womb. 

Pulmonary. — Pertaining to the lungs. 

Pedum. — Lower portion of the bowels. 

Renal. — Pertaining to the kidneys. 

Retroversion. — Falling backward. 

Retrojlection. — Bending backward. 

Saline. — Having the qualities of salt. 

Salivation. — Unnatural flow of saliva. 

Sanguineous. — Bloody. 

Umbilicus. — Navel . 

Urinary. — Pertaining to the urine. 

Uterus. — The womb. 

Vagina. — Passage leading to the womb. 

Varicose veins. — Veins permanently dilated with blood. 

Vesicle — Small cavity or sac in the human body. 

Vulva. — Outer lips of the vagina. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



Maternity is a splendid book. Every woman should have it. — Mrs. Miller, Columbus 
Texas. 

All wives and mothers should have and read this useful and instructive book. — J. W. 
Morgan, M. D., Port Byron, 111. 

I have examined Maternity, a book for every wife and mother, and consider it a very 
plain, sensible and useful work. — George Pray, M. D., Ionia, Mich. 

Maternity has my unqualified approval. I believe it ought to be in the hands of every 
wife and mother capable of appreciating its teachings. — C. A. Williamson, M. D., Columbus, 
Texas. 

I have no hesitancy in saying that Maternity will be a valuable contribution to every 
library. It is a book that can safely and with profit be placed in the hands of every woman. — 
G. R. Skinner, M. D., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

I have taken much pains to examine this book, written for the use of wives and mothers, 
and I consider it a work well worth much study, and do not hesitate to recommend it for advice 
and instruction. — C. L. Duncomb, M. D., Racine, Wis. 

I have carefully read this book and I readily say that it contains just such information as 
all wives and mothers should possess; indeed, I would add that it is their duty to receive and 
to heed the advice and counsel that it contains. — A. M. Hoy, M. D., Racine, Wis. 

I have examined this book and think it an excellent work. Its advice to mothers relative 
to the care of new-born children is alone worth the price of the book. It will be an aid to 
mothers in many ways. — F. R. Garlock, M. D., Racine, Wis. 

I consider this book, Maternity, a most valuable work and one which every woman 
should possess. I can but feel it to be a Chrstian duty as a mother and physician to not only 
recommend but also to urge every mother to place it in the hands of her daughter, as it 
cannot fail to prove a valuable inheritance to her in all the relations of life. — Dr. Mary 
Thomas Bushnell, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Maternity contains a great amount of just such knowledge as every wife and mother 
needs, put in simple and direct language. Its chapters on the care of children are especially 
fine, telling the mother what not to do as well as -what to do. Time and space would fail to 
call attention to all the fine points of the book, so the reader is referred to the text, with the 
assurance that the time spent in its perusal will prove most profitable. — Union Signal, Chicago. 

Having carefully examined the book entitled Maternity, I am satisfied that it is a very 
valuable and useful book, and should be in the hands of every woman, be she wife oc mother, 
We cannot know too much of ourselves and the laws that govern our physical natures. Get 
the book, read carefully and learn much that will be valuable in prolonging life and prevent- 
ing suffering. — L. D. Stevens, M. D., Muir, Michigan. 

After a careful examination of the work entitled Maternity, a book for every wife and 
mother, with its accompanying anatomical illustrations, I have no hesitation in recommend- 
ing it as a work worthy the attention of every woman. The subject matter is treated in a com- 
mon sense and scientific manner, and is therefore no "cure all" quackery. I consider it a work 
of real worth and one which ought to be studied by every woman. — F. A. Hargrave, M. D., 
Palo, Michigan. 

I have examined the book Maternity, and am pleased to say that I find it chaste in senti- 
ment, plain in diction, moral in tone, and thoroughly practical in setting forth most im- 
portant facts and giving light and advice on subjects too little understood, though of great 
interest to every woman in the land. I wish ever}' mother could possess the book and be 
Conversant with its directions and would conscientiously follow its teachings. — D. B. Munger, 
Pastor Baptist Church, Palo, Mich. 



SBX-ZECI 1 LIST 



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BREAST PUMPS. 




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THROAT SAG. 




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FACE RAG. 




These bags can be filled with hot water and tightly corked. 
The Throat Bag for throat troubles, the Face Bag for catarrhal 
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Face Bag, each $ i oo, by mail § l IO 

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There ought to be a half dozen in everv home. 





;oc each, post-paid by mail; half-dozen 75c. 



HOT WATER BOTTLES. 

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1 Quart each,$2 00 

2 " " 2iu 

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Address: L R> MILLER & CO., 

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PHILADELPHIA, PA. CHICAGO, III. 



PLHTES 



ILLUSTRATING 



MATERNITY; 



A BOOK FOR- EVERY 



WIFE AND MOTHER. 



CHICAGO AND PHILADELPHIA: 

L. P. MILLER & COMPANY 

1887, 




LRfii 



Plate 1. The Pelvis. So called from its resem- 
blance to a basin. It is a bony ring interposed 
between the lower end of the spine, which it sup- 
ports, and the lower extremities upon which it rests. 
It is composed of four bones, — the two ossa innomi- 
nata, which bound it on either side and in front, and 
the sacrum and coccyx, which complete it behind. 
The pelvis is divided, for convenience of explana- 
tion, into the false and true pelvis. 

Plate 2. The False Pelvis. The lines ab, c c?, 
and ef, show the relative diameters of the false 
or upper pelvis. This broad shallow cavity is fitted 
to support the intestines and to transmit a part of 
their weight to the anterior wall of the abdomen. 





LRfi 



Plate 3. The True Pelvis. The lines a and b 
show the diameters of the true pelvis, which is all 
that part situated beneath the lines in plate 2. It is 
smaller than the false pelvis, but its walls are more 
perfect. The pelvis is replete with interest, since 
through it must pass the foetus or unborn child. 

Plate 4. A Flattened or Deformed Pelvis. From 
a casual glance at plates 1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be 
seen that the size and shape of the pelvis may have 
much to do with the ease or pains of labor. 



Plate 5. Mammary Gland; a, nipple, the cen- 
tral portion of which is retracted ; b, areola ; c, c, c, 
c, c, lobules of the gland; 1, sinus or milk duct; 2, 
extremities of the milk duct. 

Plate 6. Showing the appearance of the Areola. 
The surface of the nipple is dark colored, and sur- 
rounded by an areola, having a colored tint. In the 
virgin the areola is of a delicate rosy hue; about 
the second month of impregnation, it enlarges and 
acquires a darker tinge, which increases as preg- 
nancy advances, becoming in some cases, a dark 
brown or even black color. These changes in the 
areola are of extreme importance in forming a conclu- 
sion in a case of suspected pregnancy. 



Plate 7. Section of the female Pelvis showing 
viscera. 

Plate 8. The Uterus. This is tlie organ of 
gestation, receiving the fecundated ovum in the cav- 
ity, retaining and supporting it during the develop- 
ment of the foetus, and becoming the principal agent 
in its expulsion at the term of parturition. In the 
virgin stats, it is pear-shaped, flattened from before 
backward, and situated in the cavity of the pelvis 
between the bladder and rectum ; it is retained in 
its position by the round and broad ligaments on 
either side and projects into the upper end of the 
vagina below. The uterus measures from two to 
two and a half inches in length, one and a half 
inches in breadth, at the upper part, and three- 
fourths of an inch in thickness. Its weight is from 
one to one and a half ounces. The cavity of the 
uterus is small in comparison to the size of the 





1 DD 



Plate 9. Uterine and ufero-ovarian veins. 1. 
Uterus seen from the front, its right half is covered 
by the peritoneum; 7, utero-ovarian vessels; 8, 8, 8, 
veins from the Fallopian tube; 10, uterine vein; 11, 
uterine artery. 



organ. The cut shows the uterus and its append- 
ages; ovaries in the broad ligaments; oviducts and 
fimbriated extremities; round ligaments; vagina 
laid open, showing the mouth of the womb and the 
folds in the mucuous membrane. The vagina is a 
membranous canal, extending from the vulva to the 
uterus. It is cylindrical in shape, flattened from 
before backwards, and its walls are usually in con- 
tact. Its length is about four inches along its 
anterior wall, and between five and six along the 
posterior wall. It surrounds the vaginal portion of 
the cervex-uteri, a short distance from the os (or 
mouth of the womb) and its attachment extends 
higher up on the posterior than on the anterior wall 
of the uterus. 



Plate 10. Nerves of the Uterus. 1, sacrum ; 2, 
rectum; 3, bladder; 4, uterus; 5, ovary; 6, extrem- 
ity of fallopian tube. (See Plate 12.) 

The Fallopian tubes, or oviaducts, convey the 
ova or egg from the ovaries to the cavity of the 
uterus. They are two in number, one on each side 
extending from each superior angle of the uterus 
to the sides of the pelvis. Each tube is about four 
inches in length; its canal is exceedingly minute, 
and commences at the superior angle of the uterus 
by a minute orifice which will barely admit a 
fine bristle ; it continues narrow along the inner half 
of the tube, then widens into a trumpet shaped ex- 
tremity, the margins of which are surrounded by a 
series of fringe-like processes, termed fimbriae- 
One of these processes is connected with the outer 
end of the ovary. The Ovaries are analogous to the 
testes in the male. They are oval shaped bodies, 
of an elongated form, flattened from above down- 
wards, situated one on each side of the uterus and 
below the Fallopian tubes. Imbedded in the meshes 
of the ovaries are numerous small, round, transpar- 
ent vesicles, in various stages of development. 
These are called Graafian follicles, and are the 
ovisacs containing the ova. These follicles are, 




IRR 



Plate 11. Arterial vessels in a uterus ten days 
after delivery. 1. The uterus or womb; 2, mouth 
of the uterus; 3, 3, round ligaments; 4, 4, Fallopian 
tubes; 5, right ovary; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, arteries 
branching to the uterus. 

Plate 12. Ovary aad Fallopian tube. Od, Fal- 
lopian tube; O, ovary; Oa, fimbriated extremity of 
the tube; Ut, section of the uterus or womb. 



during their early development, small and deeply 
seated in the substance of the ovaries. At puberty, 
the ovaries enlarge, are more vascular, the graafian 
follicles are developed in greater abundance and 
their ova now becomes capable of fecundation. 
After gradually approaching the surface of the ovary, 
the follicle bursts, the ovum and fluid contained 
therein is liberated and passing into the Fallopian 
tube is carried to the uterus. The maturation and 
discharge of the ova occur at regular periods and is 
indicated by menstruation. Should the union of the 
sexes take place at or about this time, the ovum may 
be fecundated. 



15 




Plate 13. Graafian Follicle. 1, ovum; 2, 3, 
membranes of the follicle; 4, its vessels; 6, cavity 
containing fluid in which is suspended the ovum ; 7, 
external covering of the ovary. 

Plate 14. Ovum and Embryo. The term embryo 
is applied to the product of conception up to the 
third month, after which time the term fcetus should 
be subsituted. 

Plate 15. Human Embryo at the third week 
showing villi covering the entire chorion. 

Nourishment and development of the embryo and 
fcetus. The ovum in passing through the Fallopian 
tube increases in size from one one-hundred and 
twenty-fifth of an inch to one-fiftieth or one twenty- 
fifth of an inch by absorption or yolk nutrition. 
(See plate 14). As the egg is small it can furnish 
nutriment for but a short time. About six days after 
conception takes place, a membrane forms around 
the ovum called the chorion. This serves to anchor 
the ovum to the walls of the uterus. From the 
chorion minute hollow tubes ramify in all directions, 
(See plate 15), and coming in contact with the 
walls of the uterus draw nourishment from the mu- 
cous membranes which line that organ. This nour- 
ishment is transmitted to the embryo by means of 
an organ connecting it with the chorion, and called 
the allantois. The allantois in time develops into 
the umbilical cord, the villi of the chorion diminish 






LR' 




Plate 16. Foetus and surroundings at seventh 
month. 

Plate 17. Foetus and membranes at fifth month. 



and finally are obliterated, save at the junction of 
the allantois with the cnorion, where they rapidly 
enlarge, and this portion at the end of the second 
month develops into the placenta, from which nutri- 
ment is furnished to the foetus. (See explanation 
to plates 24 and 25.) "The growth of the embryo 
after fecundation is very rapid. On the tenth day 
it has the appearance of a semi-transparent, greyish 
flake. On the twelfth day it is nearly the size of a 
pea, filled with fluid, in the middle of which is an 
opaque spot, presenting the first appearance of an 
embryo, which may be clearly seen as an oblong 
or curved body and is plainly visible to the naked 
eye on the fourteenth day. The twenty-first day the 
embryo resembles an ant or a lettuce seed ; its length 
is from four to five lines and its weight from three 
to four grains. Many of its parts now begin to show 
themselves, especially the cartilaginous beginnings 
of the spinal column, the heart, etc. 

The thirtieth day the embryo is as large as a horse 
fly, and resembles a worm bent together. There are 
yet no limbs, and the head is larger than the body. 
When stretched out it is nearly half an inch long. 
Toward the fifth week the head increases greatly in 





LRB 



Plate 18. First breech presentation, 
Plate 19. First head presentation. 



proportion to the remainder of the body, and the 
rudimentary eyes are indicated by two black spots 
turned toward the sides, and the heart exhibits its 
external form, bearing a close resemblance to that 
in the adult. 

In the seventh week bone begins to form in the 
lower jaw and clavicle. Narrow streaks on each 
side of the vertebral column show the beginning of 
the ribs. The heart is perfecting its form, the 
brain enlarged and the eyes and ears growing more 
perfect and the limbs sprouting from the body. The 
lungs are mere sacs, about one line in length and 
the trachea is a delicate thread, but the liver is very 
large. The arms are still imperforate. In the 
seventh week are formed the renal capsules and 
kidneys. At two months the forearm and hand can 
be distinguished, but not the arm; the hand is 
larger than the forearm, but it is not supplied with 
fingers. The distinction of sex is yet difficult. The 
eyes are prominent, but the lids do not cover the 
eyeballs. The nose forms an obtuse eminence. 
The nostrils are rounded and separated. The mouth 
is gaping and the epidermis can be distinguished 
from the true skin. The embryo is from one and a 
half to two inches long and weighs from three to 
five drachms, the head forming more than one third 
of the whole. 



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Plate 20. The foetus, inclosed in its membranes, 
with expanding os uteri, in first stage of labor. 



At the end of three months the eyelids are dis- 
tinct but shut; the lips are drawn together; the 
forehead and nose are clearly traceable, and the 
organs of generation prominent. The heart beats 
with force, and larger vessels carry red blood ; the 
fingers and toes are well defined, and muscles begin 
to be developed. 

At the fourth month the embryo takes the name 
of foetus. The body is six to eight inches in length 
and weighs from seven to eight ounces. The skin 
has a rosy color, and the muscles now produce a 
sensible motion. A fetus born at this time might 
live several hours. 

At five months the length of the body is from 
eight to ten inches, and its weight from eight to 
eleven ounces. 

At six months the length is twelve and a half 
inches: weight one pound. The hair appears upon 
the head, the eyes closed, the eyelids somewhat 
thicker, and their margins as well as the eyebrows 
are studded with very delicate hairs. 

At seven months, every part has increased in vol- 
ume and perfection ; the bony system is nearly com- 
plete; length twelve to fourteen inches, weight two 
and a half to three pounds. If born at this period 
the foetus is able to breathe, cry and nurse, and may 
live if properly cared for. 




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Plate 21. Tivins in Utero, head and breech pre- 
senting. 



At eight months, the foetus seems to grow rather 
in thickness than in length; it is only sixteen to 
eighteen inches long and yet weighs from four to 
five pounds. The skin is very red, and covered 
with down and a considerable quantity of sebaceous 
matter. The lower jaw, which at first was very 
short, is now as long as the upper one. 

Finally, at term the foetus is about nineteen to 
twenty-three inches long, and weighs from six to 
nine pounds. The red blood circulates, in the 
capillaries and the skin performs the functions of 
perspiration; the nails are fully developed." 



Plate 22 Uterine Surface of the Placenta. 
Plate 28. Fcetal Surface of the Placenta. 

The placenta is a soft spongy mass, nearly cir- 
cular in form, measuring about seven and one-half 
inches in diameter and one inch in thickness at the 
insertion of the umbilical cord. Its weight is about 
one pound. The foetal, surface is smooth, while the 
uterine surface has a roughened, spongy feel. The 
uterine surface of the placenta coheres with the uterus 
and is connected by the umbilical cord with the 
foetus. During intra-uterine life the placenta per- 
forms offices similar to those of the lungs and intes- 
tines after birth. It absorbs nourishment, renovates 
the blood, and discharges by exhalation the excremen- 
titious matters originating in the process of fcetal 
nutrition. The umbilical cord consists of a sheath 
inclosing a gelatinous mass surrounding two umbil- 
ical arteries and one vein. Through the agencies of 
the umbilical cord as before stated the foetus is 
nurished and the excesses discharged. 




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Plate 24. The plan of faded circulation. As 
the lungs of the foetus are dormant the foetal circula- 
tion is a very interesting phenomenon. The blood, 
passing from the right ventricle into the pulmonary 
artery, instead of entering the lungs, passes, almost 
entirely, through the ductus arteriosus into the de- 
cending aorta. From here the larger part is conveyed 
through the umbilical arteries to the placenta, where 
the interchanges with the maternal blood take place. 
After being thus renovated and recharged with oxy- 
gen, it collects within the umbilical vein and passes 
back to the foetal liver. Here a part of it circulates 
through this organ, while the rest passes direct 
through the ductus venosus, into the inferior vena 
cava, where it again meets the blood brought from 
the liver by the hepatic vein, and the two mixing 
with that returning from the lower extremities and 
viscera of the abdomen enter the right auricle, and 
by the Eustachian valve pass into the left auricle 
where it becomes mixed with a small quantity of blood 
returning from the lungs by the pulmonary veins. 
From the left auricle it passes into the left ventricle, 
from here into the aorta, from whence it is dis- 
tributed almost entirely to the upper extremities. 
Decending by the superior vena cava it enters the 
right auricle and from here into the right ventricle, 
and thus completes the circuit. 




Plate 26. Retroversion of the womb. 




Plate 28. Prolapsus uteri, or falling of the 
womb. 



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